Graphene oxide-coated V2O5 microspheres for lithium-sulfur batteries

Lithium-sulfur(Li–S)batteries have received extensive attention due to the high theoretical energy density. However, tremendous works have been made to improve the three major problems of Li–S batteries. Namely, electrical insulation of sulfur, shuttle effect of polysulfide, and volume expansion of sulfur. However, there are still huge challenges to solve these problems and improve capacity. Here, we propose a strategy to prepare a double-shelled structure [email protected]2O5 spheres @GO composite.The polar hollow V2O5 sphere can realize the chemical adsorption of polysulfides and graphene oxide facilitates good electronic conductivity, thereby improving rate capability and cycling performance. The cycle capacity of [email protected]2O5 spheres @GO composite remains 895.7 mAh/g at 0.1C after 100 cycles and low capacity decay of 0.015% after 200 cycles at 1C rate, attributed to the double-shelled structure of the [email protected]2O5 spheres @ GO, the resulting electrode exhibits better performance. Offering a potential candidate for practical application of Li–S batteries in the future.