The effect of pore structure and surface properties of carbon nanotube films on the performance of a lithium sulfur battery

Abstract

We fabricated a Li-S battery with post-treated carbon nanotube (CNT) films which offered better support for sulfur, and investigated the effect of the surface properties and pore structure of the post-treated CNT films on Li-S battery performance. Post-treatments, i.e., acid treatment, unzip process and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) treatment, effectively modified the surface properties and pore structure of the CNT film. The modified pore structure impacted the ability of the CNT films to accommodate the catholyte, resulting in an increase in initial discharge capacity.