Abstract
Metal sulfides such as Bismuth sulfide (Bi.sub.2S.sub.3) hold immense potential to be promoted as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), owing to their high theoretical gravimetric and volumetric capacities. However, the poor electrical conductivity and volume expansion during cycling hinder the practical applications of Bi.sub.2S.sub.3. In this work, we used pyrrole and glucose as carbon source to design the surface carbon coating on the surface of Bi.sub.2S.sub.3 particles, to improve the structural stability of Bi.sub.2S.sub.3. Two composite materials were synthesized -- Bi.sub.2S.sub.3 coated with nitrogen doped carbon (Bi.sub.2S.sub.3@NC), and Bi.sub.2S.sub.3 coated with carbon (Bi.sub.2S.sub.3@C). When used as anode active materials, both Bi.sub.2S.sub.3@NC and Bi.sub.2S.sub.3@C showed improved performance compared to Bi.sub.2S.sub.3, which confirms surface carbon coating as an effective and scalable way for the modification of Bi.sub.2S.sub.3 material. The electrode based on Bi.sub.2S.sub.3@NC materials demonstrated higher performance than that of Bi.sub.2S.sub.3@C, with an initial discharge capacity of 1126.5 mA h/g, good cycling stability (500 mA h/g after 200 cycles at 200 mA/g) and excellent rate capability. Finally, Li storage and migration mechanisms in Bi.sub.2S.sub.3 are revealed using first principle density functional theory calculations.