A Flexible Glass Fiber Based Freestanding Composite Electrode for High-Performance Lithium Polysulfide Batteries

Herein, a flexible, low-cost, and freestanding membrane electrode (FSME) in lithium polysulfide batteries with high energy density and long cycle life is reported. The specially designed electrode offers adequate space to accommodate a large amount of sulfur and facilitate the enhanced immobilization of polysulfide ions. Moreover, polar-based oxides inbuilt in the electrode favor in suppressing the polysulfide shuttling effect. The initial specific capacity of Li polysulfide (Li2S8) in FSME is 1210 mAh g(-1) at 0.2 C with remarkable capacity retention upon cycling. The capacity stabilizes at 970 mAh g(-1) at 100th cycle indicating the excellent cycling ability of FSME. Further, this membrane electrode alleviates the cost issues associated with most of the carbon nanotube-based electrodes.