Effects on the carbon matrix as conductor in sulfur electrode for lithium/sulfur battery

Lithium/sulfur battery has some problems such as low utilization of active material and poor cycle life owing to the dissolution of lithium polysulfide into electrolyte, aggregation of sulfur during charge-discharge process, and structural change of sulfur electrode. To overcome such problems, carbon nano tubes (CNTs) and graphitic nano fibers (GNFs) were added into the sulfur electrode. The addition of CNTs and GNFs having a network-like structure is expected to offer the structural stability and good electrical path of sulfur electrode. The morphology of fabricated sulfur electrode was observed by using scanning electron microscope (SEM), and the crystalline structure was characterized by using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The charge/discharge tests were conducted in the voltage range 3.2/1.5V (vs.Li) with a galvanostatic method.