Natural nitrogen-doped multiporous carbon from biological cells as sulfur stabilizers for lithium-sulfur batteries

In this context, we firstly synthesized a novel nitrogen-doped multiporous carbon material from renewable biological cells through a facile chemical activation with K2CO3. After sulfur impregnation, the carbon/sulfur composite achieved a sulfur content of about 67 wt%. The C/S composite as the cathode of lithium sulfur batteries exhibited a discharge capacity of 1410 mAh/g and good capacity retention of 912 mAh/g at 0.1C. These outstanding results were attributed to the synergy effect of microporous carbon and natural doping nitrogen atoms. We believe that the facile approach for the synthesis of nitrogen-doped multiporous carbon from the low-cost and sustainable biological resources will not only be applied in lithium sulfur batteries, but also in other electrode materials. (C) 2016 Chinese Chemical Society and Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.