High-performance nitrogen-doped titania nanowire decorated carbon cloth electrode for lithium-polysulfide batteries

•N-TiO2 nanowire decorated carbon cloth was developed for Li-polysulfide batteries.•N doping in TiO2 nanowire promotes electron transport and polysulfide adsorption.•Rate capacity was much improved with the nanowire structured carbon cloth.

A semi-liquid polysulfide cathode renders a higher sulfur loading for Li-S batteries. However, the aggravated polysulfide shuttle effect and the poor interaction between polysulfide and carbonaceous electrode lower the battery's cycling stability and performance. Here we report a freestanding N-TiO2 nanowire (NW) decorated carbon cloth electrode for a Li-polysulfide battery, where the nitrogen doping in the formed nanowires allows for a higher electrical conductivity and stronger polysulfide binding ability. Meanwhile, with the facile adsorption of S42− and more active sites provided by the nanowire structure, Li2S precipitation can be improved as well. With the rationally engineered nanostructured polysulfide binding electrode, the battery achieves a remarkably enhanced cycling stability and prolonged discharge capacity (1210 mAh g−1, 0.2C and 600 mAh g−1, 1C), in comparison with the pristine carbon cloth (890 mAh g−1, 0.2C and 210 mAh g−1, 1C). The facile strategy of fabricating conductive and polysulfide binding nanostructure in this work is thus expected to facilitate the design of high-energy sulfur cathode.

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