Flake-like molybdenum trioxide/carbon nanotube composite as an effective sulfur host for high-performance lithium–sulfur battery cathode

The practical applications of high-performance lithium–sulfur batteries are seriously hindered by the shuttle effect of polysulfide intermediates Therefore, molybdenum trioxide/carbon nanotubes/sulfur (MoO 3 /CNTs/S) was used as cathode materials for lithium–sulfur batteries in this paper. The MoO 3 , as a polar transition metal oxide, has strong chemisorption on polysulfides, which can effectively alleviate the shuttle effect. Meanwhile, the flake-like MoO 3 can effectively immobilize the active substance sulfur. Furthermore, CNTs have excellent conductivity and abundant nanometer reaction sites. Benefitting from the synergistic effects of MoO 3 and conductive CNTs, the MoO 3 /CNTs/S cathode exhibits the superior electrochemical performance. The initial specific discharge capacity of MoO 3 /CNTs/S cathode is 1237.0 mAh g −1 at 0.1 C. The initial specific discharge capacity of MoO 3 /CNTs/S cathode is 976.9 mAh g −1 , and there is a reversible capacity of 391.4 mAh g −1 after 800 cycles, and the capacity decay rate is 0.075% at 0.5 C. The MoO 3 /CNTs/S cathode can be used as a good candidate for high-performance lithium–sulfur battery.