Titanium-Carbide-Decorated Carbon Nanofibers as Hybrid Electrodes for High Performance Li-S Batteries

Li-S batteries are among the most promising candidates for the next generation of energy storage systems due to their high theoretical energy densities and reasonable kinetics. However, the poor electronic conductivity of sulfur and the dissolution of lithium polysulfide intermediates lead to the low practical capacity and the fast capacity decay of sulfur cathode. Herein, we report a hybrid electrode design based on titanium carbide nanoparticles (TiC NPs) attached to carbon nanofibers (CNFs) to improve the sulfur cathode performance via the synergistic effect of the strong binding of TiC NPs and the high conductivity of CNFs. The TiC NPs-CNFs hybrid electrode provides both a high electron transfer pathway and deposition active sites for sulfur species, and thus largely enhances the cycling stability and rate performance of the sulfur cathode. This hybrid electrode material will have a great potential application in future Li-S batteries due to its facile preparation and high efficiency.