Lithium–sulfur batteries with activated carbons derived from olive stones

A lithium–sulfur battery, using activated carbon obtained from olive stones as the sulfur host, is reported. The microporous texture allows large amounts of sulfur to be infiltrated into the host (sulfur loading 80%). The resulting composite material possesses a high capacity, about 670 mA h g−1, excellent capacity retention on cycling and good rate capability. We believe that activated carbons derived from biomass could be an alternative source for the preparation of the cathode for Li–S batteries.