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In-situ activation of sulfur during electropolymerization of aniline for high-performance binder-free sulfur-polyaniline composite cathodes in lithium-sulfur batteries
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DOI:10.1016/j.electacta.2026.148931.png)
Abstract
En 中文
Polyaniline (PANI) is considered an ideal additive for improving the performance of sulfur cathodes in lithiumsulfur (Li-S) batteries due to its high electrical conductivity, strong affinity for polysulfides, and good mechanical flexibility. This work reports a facile two-step electrodeposition method for preparing a binder-free S-PANI composite cathode: first, S is galvanostatically electrodeposited onto carbon fiber cloth (CFC) to obtain S/CFC, followed by the electropolymerization of aniline on its surface via cyclic voltammetry (CV) to fabricate the PANI@S/CFC cathode. Analysis of electrochemical testing data and physicochemical characterization reveals that during the electropolymerization of aniline, S undergoes repeated electro-oxidation and electro-reduction reactions with potential cycling-an in-situ activation effect that significantly optimizes the exposed S active sites and the binding state between S and PANI/CFC matrix. The improved S active sites enhance specific capacity, while the strengthened binding between S and the PANI/CFC matrix effectively suppresses polysulfide shuttling. By screening PANI dopants and optimizing the number of CV polymerization cycles, benzenesulfonic acid and 25 cycles are identified as the optimal conditions. The resulting PANI@S/CFC cathode maintains a specific capacity of 749.2 mAh g-1 after 100 cycles at 0.2 C-3.90 times that of the uncoated S/CFC cathode-along with an impressive capacity retention of 94.82%, significantly outperforming the 85.10% of S/CFC. This strategy, integrating electropolymerization with in-situ activation, is simple, time-efficient, and offers a novel and feasible approach for modifying commercial S cathodes.
Keywords:
Lithium-sulfur batteries
Polyaniline
Electrodeposition
Electropolymerization
Activation
Journal
IF:
5.6
Papers:
4.0W
Citations:
12.6W
