High capacity and long cycle stability lithium-sulfur battery by using hollow Co₃O₄ nanofibers as host materials

Developing long cycle stability lithium-sulfur battery has become hot topic for the researchers all over the world. But due to the dissolution and the shuttle effect of the polar polysulfide, lithium-sulfur batteries suffer from severe capacity fade during the electrochemical process. Metal oxides play a key role in improving the electrochemical performance, which is ascribed to its chemical affinity between the polar metal oxide and polysulfide. In our work, hollow Co₃O₄ nanofibers are synthesized and designed as host materials for the element sulfur. The electrochemical results show that the as-prepared hollow Co₃O₄ nanofiber-sulfur composite (HCON-S) exhibits high capacity and superior cycle stability. (paper)