New Structural Carbons via Industrial Gas Explosion for Hybrid Cathodes in Li–S Batteries

Hereinafter, we report onion-like carbon (OLC) and fullerene-like carbon (FLC) materials synthesized via 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) and 1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (Royal Demolition Explosive, RDX) detonation technique and acetylene gas explosion process, respectively. Abundant micropores, mesopores, and different spatial structures exist inside the two carbon materials. They demonstrate good conductivity and sulfur storage capacity, and various rich pore structures, inhibiting the shuttle effect of the solved lithium polysulfide in the charge–discharge process. The pore size distribution, pore volume, specific surface area, electronic conductivity, composite structure, interaction between sulfur and carbon, and cell performance are researched. The Li–S battery furnished with the two carbon–sulfur hybrid materials as the cathode host material delivers a well reversible rate cycling performance, and a low decay rate of 0.037% and 0.056% per cycle during 1000 cycles at 1C for FLC and OLC, respectively, with a sulfur load of about 2.2 mg/cm2. The excellent electrochemical performance of the two carbon materials obtained by detonation method makes them ideal substitute products of the commercial Super P carbon material, especially the FLC material.