Carbon nanotube-embedded hollow carbon nanofibers as efficient hosts for advanced lithium–sulfur batteries

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries have attracted great research attention because of their high energy density and low cost. However, shuttling effects of polysulfides and insulation from elemental sulfur hinder their practical application. Herein, we report hollow carbon nanofibers filled with carbon nanotubes (denoted as HCNF/CNT) as host materials for sulfur to mitigate the shuttling behavior and improve the kinetics of insulative sulfur. The as-prepared HCNF/CNT with nano-conductive domains in the hollow carbon nanofibers enables high loading and efficient utilization of sulfur. Owing to their unique structural superiority, the sulfur-encapsulated HCNF/CNT cathode materials for Li-S batteries deliver excellent electrochemical performance, including high specific capacity of 1156 mA h g-1 at 0.2 C, good rate performance and cycling stability with a capacity retention of 77.2% after 200 cycles at 2 C. Such a unique structure can provide inspiration for the rational structural design of carbon materials as hosts for high performance Li-S batteries.