Facile synthesis and performance of polypyrrole-coated sulfur nanocomposite as cathode materials for lithium/sulfur batteries

In situ chemical oxidation polymerization of pyrrole on the surface of sulfur particles was carried out to synthesize a sulfur/polypyrrole(S/PPy)nanocomposite with core-shell structure. The composite was characterized by elemental analysis, X-ray diffraction, scanning/transmission electron microscopy, and electrochemical measurements. XRD and FTIR results showed that sulfur well dispersed in the core-shell structure and PPy structure was successfully obtained via in situ oxidative polymerization of pyrrole on the surface of sulfur particles. TEM observation revealed that PPy was formed and fixed to the surface of sulfur nanoparticle after polymerization, developing a well-defined core-shell structure and the thickness of PPy coating layer was in the range of 20-30 nm. In the composite, PPy worked as a conducting matrix as well as a coating agent, which confined the active materials within the electrode. Consequently, the as prepared S/PPy composite cathode exhibited good cycling and rate performances for rechargeable lithium/sulfur batteries. The resulting cell containing S/PPy composite cathode yields a discharge capacity of 1039 mAh g-1at the initial cycle and retains 59% of this value over 50 cycles at 0.1 C rate. At 1 C rate, the S/PPy composite showed good cycle stability, and the discharge capacity was 475 mAh g-1after 50 cycles.