Synthesis of porous polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) microspheres and their application in lithium sulfur batteries

Novel porous PVDF microspheres have been prepared by a facile electrospraying approach. The microspheres with an average size of 2-5 µm in diameter possess inter-connective pores. Several key factors including polymer diffusion, solvent evaporation, chain entanglements and Coulomb fission influence the morphology of final products obtained by electrospraying. About 66 wt% sulfur content could be loaded into the void space of the porous PVDF microspheres. The special structure of porous PVDF microsphere serving as a host for the lithium sulfur batteries could benefit from the physical entrapment of the polysulfides.