A new lithium-ion battery using 3D-array nanostructured graphene-sulfur cathode and silicon oxide-based anode

Abstract

In this work we report an efficient lithium-ion battery using enhanced sulfur-based cathode and silicon oxide-based anode as novel energy-storage system. The sulfur-carbon composite, exploiting graphene carbon with 3D array (3DG-S), is synthesized by reduction step and microwave-assisted solvothermal technique and fully characterized in terms of structure, morphology, thereby revealing suitable features for lithium-cell application. Electrochemical tests indicate the 3DG-S electrode as very stable and performing cathode in lithium half-cell, with capacity ranging from 1200 to 1000 mAh g−1 at C/10 and 1C rates, respectively. Remarkably, the Li-alloying anode, namely a LiySiOx-C prepared by the sol-gel method and lithiated by surface treatment, shows a suitable performance in lithium half-cell using an electrolyte designed for lithium-sulfur battery. The LiySiOx-C/3DG-S battery reveals very promising results with a capacity of about 460 mAh gS −1 delivered at average voltage of about 1.5 V over 200 cycles, suggesting the characterized materials as suitable candidates for low-cost and high-energy storage application.