Scalable TiO2 embedded sulfur bulks@MnO2 nanosheets composite cathode for long-cyclic lithium-sulfur batteries

Abstract Lithium‐sulfur batteries have stimulated great attention as an advanced power system for scale storage requirements due to the overwhelming energy density. However, the capacity degradation caused by polysulfide shuttle and volume expansion still impedes the practical application. Herein, we designed and fabricated a facile TiO 2 embedded sulfur bulks@MnO 2 nanosheets composite as scalable cathode for long-cyclic lithium-sulfur batteries. The TiO 2 nanoparticles were embedded in sulfur bulks, which played important roles in the coverage of the uniform MnO 2 nanosheets. The embedded TiO 2 sites and external MnO 2 nanosheets brought out the physic trapping and chemical synergistic encapsulation of polysulfides. Such a composite cathode exhibited high reversible capacity of 1289 mAh g −1 at 0.1 C and long-term cycling stability at high rate condition (430 mAh g ‐1 after 500 cycles at 2 C). This work thus sheds new light on a scalable way to improve the electrochemical performance of sulfur cathode.