High loading cotton cellulose-based aerogel self-standing electrode for Li-S batteries

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries have attracted considerable attention due to their high energy density (2600 Wh kg⁻¹). However, its commercialization is hindered seriously by the low loading and utilization rate of sulfur cathodes. Herein, we designed the cellulose-based graphene carbon composite aerogel (CCA) self-standing electrode to enhance the performance of Li-S batteries. The CCA contributes to the mass loading and utilization efficiency of sulfur, because of its unique physical structure: low density (0.018 g cm⁻³), large specific surface area (657.85 m² g⁻¹), high porosity (96%), and remarkable electrolyte adsorption (42.25 times). Compared to Al (about 49%), the CCA displayed excellent sulfur use efficiency (86%) and could reach to high area capacity of 8.60 mAh cm⁻² with 9.11 mg S loading. Meanwhile, the CCA exhibits the excellent potential for pulse sensing applications due to its flexibility and superior sensitivity to electrical response signals.