Application of ZIF-8 coated with titanium dioxide in cathode material of lithium-sulfur battery

Lithium-sulfur batteries have become a potential candidate for a new generation of energy storage devices due to their extremely high theoretical capacity, but their shuttle effect and poor conductivity of sulfur and final discharge products hinder their commercial development. In this paper, ZIF-8 material with a large specific surface area was successfully prepared with metallic zinc as the central atom and dimethylimidazole. After sintering at 800 °C, the mesoporous carbon material was obtained, which increased its physical adsorption of sulfur. At the same time, titanium dioxide was coated on the mesoporous carbon material to obtain a core-shell structure with a specific surface area of up to 556.1 m2/g. The titanium dioxide coating well inhibits the occurrence of the shuttle effect and at the same time improves the cycle stability of the lithium-sulfur battery. The specific discharge capacity of the battery reaches 1351 mAh/g at 0.1 C.