SiO2 hollow nanotubes composite aramid fiber interlayer for absorbtion of polysulfides in highly stable lithium-sulfur batteries

The shuttle effect and poor conductivity of the sulfur are the major obstacles to the commercialization of lithium-sulfur batteries. In this paper, hollow SiO2 nanotubes (SNTs) were prepared to combine with the aramid fiber paper (AP) as a multifunctional interlayer (SNTs-AP) in the Lithium-sulfur battery. SNTs-AP interlayer could efficiently suppress the polysulfide shuttle effect through polarization sites of SiO2 and enhance the electrical conductivity of lithium-sulfur batteries by forming conductive network. Moreover, the SNTs could accelerate the conversion process of long-chain polysulfides to short-chain polysulfides. The lithium-sulfur batteries with SNTs-AP interlayer exhibits a stable cycling performance with initial specific capacity of 1018mAh/g and average coulombic efficiency of 97.5% at 0.2C. Furthermore, the battery with the SNTs-AP interlayer exhibits a low cyclic decay rate of 0.073% after 350 cycles at 1 C. The above results proves that the SNTs-AP interlayer could provide a strategy for preparing high-stability lithium-sulfur batteries.