UC Berkeley

Sulfur deposition is an effective method for creating composites of sulfur with various conductive materials. In this study we investigated the details of the deposition process of sulfur onto graphene oxide (GO). It was revealed that just mixing a polysulfide solution and a GO suspension resulted in the deposition of sulfur onto the GO under alkaline conditions. The combination of the alkaline deposition and subsequent acidic deposition at different temperatures yielded materials with various morphologies. The sulfur deposition rate influenced the morphology of the S deposit and the resulting Li/S cell performance. By controlling the process with a moderate time for the alkaline deposition and subsequent acidic deposition at a decreased temperature, a preferred morphology of the sulfur/GO composite with a high sulfur utilization was successfully synthesized. This preferred morphology of SGO provides for a high-performance Li/S cell.