A Binder-Free and Free-Standing Cobalt Sulfide@Carbon Nanotube Cathode Material for Aluminum-Ion Batteries.

Hu, Yuxiang; Ye, Delai; Luo, Bin; Hu, Han; Zhu, Xiaobo; Wang, Songcan; Li, Linlin; Peng, Shengjie et al. · Adv Mater · 2018

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Rechargeable aluminum-ion batteries (AIBs) are considered as a new generation of large-scale energy-storage devices due to their attractive features of abundant aluminum source, high specific capacity, and high energy density. However, AIBs suffer from a lack of suitable cathode materials with desirable capacity and long-term stability, which severely restricts the practical application of AIBs. Herein, a binder-free and self-standing cobalt sulfide encapsulated in carbon nanotubes is reported as a novel cathode material for AIBs. The resultant new electrode material exhibits not only high discharge capacity (315 mA h g<sup>-1</sup> at 100 mA g<sup>-1</sup> ) and enhanced rate performance (154 mA h g<sup>-1</sup> at 1 A g<sup>-1</sup> ), but also extraordinary cycling stability (maintains 87 mA h g<sup>-1</sup> after 6000 cycles at 1 A g<sup>-1</sup> ). The free-standing feature of the electrode also effectively suppresses the side reactions and material disintegrations in AIBs. The new findings reported here highlight the possibility for designing high-performance cathode materials for scalable and flexible AIBs.