Graphene oxide/glucose-derived carbon composites as multiple effects hosts for lithium-sulfur batteries

Graphene oxide/glucose-derived carbon composites as multiple effects hosts for lithium-sulfur batteries | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Graphene oxide/glucose-derived carbon composites as multiple effects hosts for lithium-sulfur batteries Xingqin Xie, Guixiang He, Xuexian Jiang, Rui Du, Lusen Wang, Wenquan Li, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7242379/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 14 Jan, 2026 Read the published version in Journal of Applied Electrochemistry → Version 1 posted 9 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This study used glucose as a carbon source, graphene oxide (GO) as a template, and surfactants to achieve the bonding effect, hydrothermal carbonization self-assembly into black-brown columnar carbon materials (GO/GC). Then the precursor carbon materials were etched with ZnCl 2 by chemical activation method to synthesize micro-mesoporous carbon materials (GO/GMMC). By melting diffusion method, carbon materials and sulfur are combined to form sulfur @ micro-mesoporous carbon composites (S@GO/GMMC composites). As the positive conductive skeleton of lithium-sulfur batteries, it has good electrical conductivity and can effectively block and adsorb polysulfides and inhibit the shuttle effect of polysulfides. Therefore, S@GO/GMMC composites show excellent electrochemical performance as a cathode for lithium-sulfur batteries. At 1 C, the initial discharge capacity of S@GO/GMMC composites is 1260 mAh g − 1 , after 500 cycles, the discharge capacity remains 713 mAh g − 1 . glucose graphene oxide lithium-sulfur battery cathode material Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8 1. Introduction Lithium-sulfur batteries are the new generation of secondary battery systems with lithium metal as the anode electrodes and elemental sulfur as the cathode electrodes.[ 1 ] Their theoretical energy density reaches 2600 Wh kg − 1 , which is 3–5 times of the traditional lithium-ion batteries, and the theoretical specific capacity is up to 1675 mAh g − 1 , so they are considered to be one of the most promising secondary battery systems at present.[ 2 – 4 ] Moreover, the abundant reserves, low price, and environmental friendliness of elemental sulfur make it more commercially competitive. Although lithium-sulfur batteries have advantages beyond the reach of current commercial lithium-ion batteries, there are still several challenges in the commercialization process of lithium-sulfur batteries: (1) The conductivity of sulfur is extremely poor, and in the discharge process will generate polysulfides, which have poor conductivity, affecting the batteries performance seriously;[ 5 – 7 ] (2) In the process of charging and discharging, due to the large density difference between sulfur and polysulfides, the volume changes can reach 80% and improper stress release in the process of expansion and contraction is easily lead to the collapse of microstructure;[ 8 – 10 ] (3) "Polysulfides generated during the discharge process are dissolved into the electrolyte, leading to a shuttle effect due to their migration between the anode and cathode electrodes through the separator will eventually lead to irreversible loss of active sulfur and reduce the batteries life.[ 11 – 13 ] In recent years, conductive carbon materials with a large specific surface area as the carrier of sulfur have attracted a lot of attention.[ 14 ] Carbon materials can not only improve the conductivity of composites positive electrodes and the charge transfer efficiency of elemental sulfur but also construct a large number of effective ion channels with its complex pore structure, which is helpful to improve the cycle performance and rate performance of the batteries.[ 15 , 16 ] The porous structure accommodates the volume expansion of sulfur during cycling, thus helping maintain electrode integrity. [ 17 – 19 ] More importantly, the large specific surface area of carbon materials can play a role in the physical adsorption of polysulfides, limiting the dissolution of polysulfides to a certain extent and inhibiting the "shuttle effect".[ 20 – 22 ] ZnCl 2 is a widely used activator, which has a good dehydration effect on carbon precursors, leading to particle shrinkage.[ 23 , 24 ] In addition, the shrinkage and removal of zinc-based materials in the generated carbon materials are conducive to the construction of porous networks with large surface area.[ 25 ] In this work, glucose is used as the carbon source, the introduction of layered graphene oxide makes the carbon materials have good conductivity, providing a channel for the transmission of ions. ZnCl 2 is used as the activator to prepare GO/GMMC with high specific surface area. The appropriate pore size avoids the agglomeration of sulfur particles, Improving the utilization of active substances, the sulfur can exist in the form of chain rather than ring structure, which fundamentally inhibits the shuttle effect of polysulfides. S@GO/GMMC composites, prepared by melting impregnation, have a long-cycle life (discharge capacity of 713 mAh g − 1 after 500 cycles at 1 C) and high rate performance. 2. Experimental Detailed information about experimental procedures and characterization of the materials can be found in supporting information. 3. Results and discussion In the Figs. 2 a-c, the GO with solid content of 1, 2 and 10 mg − 1 mL − 1 respectively. It can be clearly seen that the higher the solid content of GO, the more obvious its lamellar structure. Figures 2 d and e are GO/GMMC-10 and S@GO/GMMC-10 composites. The abundant pore structure of GO/GMMC-10 can effectively physically detain sulfur. The layered porous structure of GO/GMMC improves the ability to capture polysulfides and further inhibits the shuttle effect in lithium-sulfur batteries.[ 26 ] To confirm the structure and components of the GO/GMMC-10 composites, EDS elemental analysis was carried out and the elemental mappings (Fig. 2 f) of the carbon, oxygen and sulfur content of the GO/GMMC-10 composites were obtained. The carbon, oxygen, sulfur and cuprum elements are distributed homogeneously in the GO/GMMC-10 composites. Figure 3 a is transmission images of GO/GMMC, the layered structure in GO/GMMC can be clearly seen, which is unique to GO. The lattice spacing shown in Fig. 3 c is 0.81 nm, which exactly corresponds to the lattice spacing of GO, indicating that GO does exist.[ 27 ] In the transmission diagram of Fig. 3 b about S@GO/GMMC composites, it can be seen that sulfur permeates into GO/GMMC. The rich porous structure and layered structure of GO/GMMC provide a positive conductive skeleton for sulfur. Figure 4 a shows the XRD pattern of Sulfur, GO/GMMC, and S@GO/GMMC composites. It can be seen from the Figure that GO/GMMC has graphitic carbon diffraction peaks corresponding to (002) and (100) at 2θ = 26° and 43°.[ 28 ] For S@GO/GMMC composites, there are obvious (002) and (100) diffraction peaks between 2θ = 23°-26° and 43°, the remaining diffraction peaks are basically consistent with those of elemental sulfur, indicating that sulfur has high crystallinity and the micro-mesoporous structure of GO/GMMC absorbs sulfur well. The Raman spectra of Sulfur, GO/GMMC, and S@GO/GMMC composites are shown in Fig. 4 b. GO/GMMC and S@GO/GMMC composites have two distinct diffraction peaks at 1343 cm − 1 and 1597 cm − 1 . The D peak corresponds to the defect peak with low crystallinity, and the G peak corresponds to the characteristic peak of graphite structure with high crystallinity. The I D /I G value of S@GO/GMMC composites is higher than GO/GMMC, and the characteristic peak of sulfur can be seen in the range of 100–500 cm − 1 of S@GO/GMMC composites, indicating that the degree of graphitization of GO/GMMC decreased after the melting diffusion method due to GO/GMMC and sulfur have a good combination. In the FT-IR spectra (Fig. 4 c), the C-S bond appearing at 1112 cm − 1 indicates that elemental sulfur reacts with GO/GMMC. The formation of C-S bond can restrain polysulfides and elemental sulfur, thus inhibiting the shuttle effect and improving the cycle performance of the batteries. The TGA curves of Sulfur, GO/GMMC, and S@GO/GMMC composites are shown in Fig. 4 d. GO/GMMC has no mass loss in the temperature range of 30–700°C due to high temperature activation at 800°C, and elemental sulfur is weightless at 242–381°C. The mass loss of S@GO/GMMC composites reaches 70.5% in the range of 200–390°C, indicating that the sulfur content of S@GO/GMMC composites is as high as 70.5%. Such high sulfur content is conducive to the better electrochemical performance of lithium-sulfur batteries. To further explore the pore structure of GO/GMMC and S@GO/GMMC composites, the specific surface area test and gas adsorption pore size distribution test were conducted. The test results are shown in Fig. 5 a and b. It can be seen from Fig. 5 a that the specific surface area of GO/GMMC-X (X = 1,2,10) is above 1000 m 2 g − 1 , while S@GO/GMMC-X (X = 1,2,10) composites are only more than 1 m 2 g − 1 . The significant reduction in the specific surface area and pore size is due to sulfur embedding in the pore structure of the GO/GMMC.[ 29 ] As shown in Fig. 5 b, the pore size on GO/GMMC is about 2–3 nm, and S 8 molecules fracture to form S 2 − 4 molecules under the high temperature at 155°C. due to the appropriate pore size of GO/GMMC, S 2 − 4 molecules cannot be converted into S 4 − 6 molecules. during the charge/discharge process, the short chain polysulfides which is relatively unstable cannot be converted into soluble long chain polysulfides, thus inhibiting the shuttle effect.[ 30 ] The rich pore structure and large specific surface area of GO/GMMC provide enough space for the volume change of sulfur during the charge/discharge process, ensuring the transfer of charges and ions, thus improving the utilization rate of sulfur. Figure 6 is the XPS spectra of S@GO/GMMC composites. It can be seen from the survey spectra (Fig. 6 a) that there are C, O, and S elements at S@GO/GMMC composites. Figure 6 b is the C 1s spectra of S@GO/GMMC composites, four peaks of binding energy at 284.2, 284.8, 286.4, and 288.6 eV correspond to C-C/C = C, C-OH, C-S, O-C = O bond respectively. The existence of the C-S bond corresponds to the results of the infrared test, which is generated by the chemical reaction between GO/GMMC and sulfur after melting diffusion method. Figure 6 c is the O 1s spectra of S@GO/GMMC composites. The catalytic activation process of ZnCl 2 brings more oxygen-containing groups to GO/GMMC, which can enhance the contact between carbon materials and sulfur, improve the adsorption ability of polysulfides, reduce the loss of sulfur, therefore inhibiting the shuttle effect. Figure 6 d is the S 2p spectral diagram of S@GO/GMMC composites. The spin orbits of S 2p 1/2 and S 2p 3/2 in the C-S bond correspond to the energy positions of 163.3 eV and 164.5 eV. The peaks of 167.5 eV and 168.8 eV correspond to the O = S bond and thiosulphate.[ 31 ] The XPS results showed that sulfur was successfully introduced into the GO/GMMC carbon skeleton. GO/GMMC provides an effective spatial structure for polysulfides to inhibit the shuttle effect and improve the electrochemical performance of the batteries. In order to prove that GO/GMMC can inhibit the shuttle effect during charging/discharging of batteries, adsorption experiments were conducted. The Li 2 S 6 solution was prepared by adding sulfur and Li 2 S (molar ratio 1:5) into the electrolyte and stirring in an argon atmosphere at 70°C for 48 h. An appropriate amount of Li 2 S 6 solution was added into 3 mL electrolyte, and 30 mg GO/GMMC was taken to adsorb polysulfides. The result is shown in Fig. 7 . It can be clearly seen from the color that after six hours, the brownish-red changes to yellow obviously, and after 12 h, it becomes transparent directly. The result indicates that GO/GMMC has strong adsorption on polysulfides. Figure 8 (a) First charge/discharge voltage profiles of S@GO/GMMC-X (X = 1, 2, 10) composites; (b) Cycling performance of S@GO/GMMC- X ( X = 1, 2, 10) composites at current density 0.1 C; (c) Charge/discharge profiles of S@GO/GMMC-10 composites at 0.1 C; (d) CV curves of S@GO/GMMC-10 composites; (e) Cycling performance of S@GO/GMMC-10 composites and S@GMCS composites at current density 0.5 C; (f) Rate performance of S@GO/GMMC-10 composites and S@GMCS composites; (g) EIS spectra of S@GO/GMMC-10 composites and S@GMCS composites (inset: equivalent circuit); (h) Cycling performance of S@GO/GMMC-10 composites at current density 1 C In order to investigate the influence of different solid contents of GO on the electrochemical performance of sulfur cathode, we compared the first charge/discharge voltage profiles of S@GO/GMMC- X ( X = 1, 2, 10) composites, as shown in Fig. 8a. It can be seen from the discharge curve that in the 1.65–2.05 V discharge platform, Δ H 1 represents the capacity provided by the conversion of S 8 into Li 2 S x (4 ≤ x ≤ 8), and the higher Δ H 1 means that more S 8 is converted into Li 2 S x (4 ≤ x ≤ 8). In the 1.55–1.65 V discharge platform, Δ H 2 represents the energy from Li 2 S x (4 ≤ x ≤ 8) to Li 2 S 2 / Li 2 S. Higher Δ H 2 means more Li 2 S x is involved in the reaction and less is dissolved in the electrolyte. The detailed ratio of Δ H 1 to Δ H 2 was given in Figure S1 in the Supporting Information, the results show that S@GO/GMMC-10 composites have the most higher conversion rate of S 8 .[ 32 ] This is related to the high specific surface area of S@GO/GMMC-10 composites which promote the adsorption of polysulfides during discharge. Figure 8b compares the cycle performance and charge/discharge efficiency of S@GO/GMMC- X ( X = 1, 2, 10) composites at 0.1 C current density. The initial discharge specific capacities of S@GO/GMMC-10 composites, S@GO/GMMC-2 composites, and S@GO/GMMC-1 composites are 1327 mAh g − 1 , 1270 mAh g − 1, and 1095 mAh g − 1 respectively. After 100 cycles, the discharge specific capacities of the three remain at 1074 mAh g − 1 , 722 mAh g − 1 and 606 mAh g − 1 . The results show that the specific initial discharge capacity and capacity retention rate of S@GO/GMMC-10 composites are much higher than that of S@GO/GMMC-2 composites and S@GO/GMMC-1 composites, because with the increase of the solid content of GO, the layered structure becomes more obvious, providing a conductive skeleton for the transmission of lithium ions.[ 33 , 34 ] It plays the role of imprisoning polysulfides and improves the utilization rate of sulfur. Figure 8c shows the charge/discharge curve (current density is 0.1 C) of S@GO/GMMC-10 composites at a voltage range of 1.5–2.8 V. As can be seen that the discharge specific capacity of S@GO/GMMC-10 composites in the second and third circles is lower than that in the 50th and 100th circles. This is also consistent with the cycle performance curve of S@GO/GMMC-10 composites at 0.1 C in Fig. 8b, which has a trend of first decreasing and then increasing. This is because the active substance in the cathode has not been activated at low rate, resulting in low discharge specific capacity. In order to further explore the redox reaction of S@GO/GMMC-10 composites during the charge/discharge process, a CV test was performed (scanning rate was 0.1 mV s − 1 , voltage range was 1.5–2.8 V). According to Fig. 8d, each curve has two distinct redox peaks. During the discharge process, the reduction peaks at 2.05 V and 1.65 V are related to the formation Li 2 S x (4 ≤ x ≤ 8) and further reduction to Li 2 S 2 /Li 2 S, while the oxidation peaks at 1.85 V and 2.35 V are reversible processes.[ 35 ] The position of these peaks also corresponds to the charge/discharge curve, and the obvious redox peaks on the electrode indicate that S@GO/GMMC composites have good electrical conductivity. In addition, the voltammetry curves of the first three cycles almost coincide, indicating the high reversibility of the charge/discharge reaction.[ 36 ] The discharge platform of the composites is lower than that of the traditional discharge platform, which is attributed to the electrochemical polarization of the materials. [ 4 ] In addition, the decrease in the specific capacity of the battery is attributed to the shuttle effect of sulfides and polysulfides on the surface of the composite material during cycling. Further explored the influence of GO on the cathode of lithium-sulfur batteries, we compared the cycle performance and charge/discharge efficiency of S@GO/GMMC composites and S@GMCS composites at 0.5 C. As shown in Fig. 8e, the initial discharge capacity of S@GO/GMMC composites is 1327 mAh g − 1 , while S@GMCS composites is 1368 mAh g − 1 . The low coulomb efficiency in the initial cycle can be attributed to the formation of the solid electrolyte interface (SEI) layer.[ 33 ] After 200 cycles, the specific discharge capacity of S@GO/GMMC composites can remain 858 mAh g − 1 , while S@GMCS composites is only 225 mAh g − 1 , which decreases quickly. The charge/discharge efficiency of both is basically maintained at 100%. This indicates that S@GO/GMMC composites have better cycle performance at high rate than S@GO/GMMC composites. Figure 8f shows the charge/discharge performance comparison of S@GO/GMMC composites and S@GMCS composites at different rates. At high rates (0.5 C, 1 C), the specific discharge capacity of S@GO/GMMC composites is higher than S@GMCS composites, which further indicates that S@GO/GMMC composites have good electron and ion conduction ability and can effectively alleviate the shuttle effect of polysulfides, and show good electrochemical performance.[ 37 ] Figure 8g is the EIS spectra of S@GMCS composites and S@GO/GMMC composites (inset: equivalent circuit), R e represents the electrolyte impedance of the batteries, R ct is the charge transfer impedance generated during the electrochemical transfer process, CPE is the double-layer capacitor, Z w represents the Warburg impedance, as can be seen from the Fig. 8g, The EIS spectra are composed of a semicircle and an inclined line. The diameter of the semicircle in the high frequency region is attributed to the charge transfer impedance, while the slant in the low frequency region is attributed to the Warburg impedance.[ 38 ] The charge transfer impedance of S@GO/GMMC composites cathode (47 Ω) is lower than S@GMCS composites (85 Ω), indicating that the electrochemical reaction kinetics of S@GO/GMMC composites is fast.[ 32 ] This is one of the reasons S@GO/GMMC composites perform well at high rate cycles. Figure 8h shows that the initial specific discharge capacity of S@GO/GMMC composites is 1260 mAh g − 1 at 1 C after 500 cycles remaining 713 mAh g − 1 . The coulomb efficiency of the batteries remains above 98%, which further proves the interception effect of GO/GMMC on soluble polysulfides and effectively inhibits the shuttle effect. 4. Conclusions In summary, the S@GO/GMMC composite materials were synthesized via hydrothermal carbonization self-assembly followed by high-temperature ZnCl₂ activation. The S@GO/GMMC composites demonstrate excellent cycle life, superior kinetic properties, and remarkable electrochemical stability. The excellent conductivity of S@GO/GMMC composites can improve the dynamic performance of the cathode. The initial specific discharge capacity of S@GO/GMMC composites is 1260 mAh g − 1 at 1 C, and excellent cycle performance for 500 cycles with a retained capacity of 713 mAh g − 1 , and the coulomb efficiency remained above 98%. Moreover, the ultra-high surface area of GO/GMMC ensured a high sulfur load. Its pore size is distributed at 2–3 nm, which helps to prevent the formation of soluble long-chain polysulfides, and fundamentally inhibits the shuttle effect. Declarations Funding Declaration: This work is supported by the Central Guidance for Local Science and Technology Development Fund Projects (ZY24212040) and the Guangxi Natural Science Foundation (2025GXNSFAA069249) Author Contribution Xingqin Xie: Methodology, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Writing−original draft. Guixiang He: Project administration, Conceptualization, Writing review & editing. Xuexian Jiang: Writing review & editing, Investigation.: Rui Du: Software, Visualization. Lusen Wang: Supervision. Wenquan Li: Formal analysis, Validation, Xuze Li:Formal analysis, Validation. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. References Cai T, Zhao L, Hu H et al (2018) Stable CoSe 2 /carbon nanodice@reduced graphene oxide composites for high-performance rechargeable aluminum-ion batteries. Energy Environ Sci 11:2341–2347 Feng W, Yang H, Pu Z, Zhang L (2022) Study of CNTs-MoS 2 /CeO 2 composites for lithium-sulfur battery performance. 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Ceram Int 45:9017–9024 Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files SupplementaryMaterial.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 14 Jan, 2026 Read the published version in Journal of Applied Electrochemistry → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 04 Oct, 2025 Reviews received at journal 03 Oct, 2025 Reviews received at journal 15 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 15 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 13 Sep, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 13 Sep, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 01 Aug, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 30 Jul, 2025 First submitted to journal 29 Jul, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7242379","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":515616955,"identity":"d0aea978-8d1d-46d4-919b-376872df8be5","order_by":0,"name":"Xingqin Xie","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Guilin University of Technology at Nanning","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xingqin","middleName":"","lastName":"Xie","suffix":""},{"id":515616956,"identity":"a2383f43-ff64-445d-8860-0b8c94209c7b","order_by":1,"name":"Guixiang He","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Guilin University of Technology at 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11:35:46","extension":"html","order_by":21,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":86784,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"earlyproof.html","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7242379/v1/39f3cf772bbdb3e333e20d64.html"},{"id":91852544,"identity":"92f090b0-eeb7-443b-9ad8-900513badf34","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-22 11:35:45","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":309803,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eSynthesis of S@GO/GMMC composites.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"image1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7242379/v1/5e0c9cc8cf500de4f815d81b.png"},{"id":91852366,"identity":"a13e2a9a-3bca-4cfd-a149-2d0c92dd807e","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-22 11:27:45","extension":"png","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":230947,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eSEM images (a) GO/GC-1, (b) GO/GC-2, (c) GO/GC-10, (d) GO/GMMC-10, (e) S@GO/GMMC-10 composites; (f) Elemental mapping of S@GO/GMMC-10 composites\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"image2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7242379/v1/87e46fd9dba371bdcf843aa5.png"},{"id":91852367,"identity":"928ebb43-8706-4d27-beb6-d07eda996a8b","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-22 11:27:45","extension":"jpeg","order_by":3,"title":"Figure 3","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":262215,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eTEM images of (a) GO/GMMC and (b, c) S@GO/GMMCcomposites\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"image4.jpeg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7242379/v1/a1cb6806046a9419596101da.jpeg"},{"id":91852369,"identity":"28e13add-f960-4665-8421-8fa7762b1155","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-22 11:27:45","extension":"png","order_by":4,"title":"Figure 4","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":123380,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e(a) X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) patterns of S@GO/GMMC composites, GO/GMMC and Sulfur; (b) Raman spectra of S@GO/GMMC composites, GO/GMMC, and Sulfur; (c) The Fourier transformation infrared spectra(FT-IR) spectra of S@GO/GMMC composites and GO/GMMC; (d) TGA curves of S@GO/GMMC composites, GO/GMMC, and Sulfur\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"image5.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7242379/v1/7d1530a53bee241b2755cf22.png"},{"id":91852370,"identity":"9f69396d-3d8d-4a8f-ac57-60fee6bb74dd","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-22 11:27:46","extension":"png","order_by":5,"title":"Figure 5","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":534707,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e(a) N\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e adsorption/desorption isotherms for GO/GMMC-X (X = 1,2,10) and S@GO/GMMC-X (X = 1,2,10) composites; (b) Pore size distribution curves of GO/GMMC-X (X = 1,2,10) and S@GO/GMMC-X (X = 1,2,10) composites\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"image6.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7242379/v1/a50a45090a02401ac8943eee.png"},{"id":91852374,"identity":"329b6afb-c8f2-4120-83e2-82bc305f0c35","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-22 11:27:46","extension":"png","order_by":6,"title":"Figure 6","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":99270,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eXPS spectra of S@GO/GMMC: (a) survey spectra, (b) C 1s, (c) O 1s and (d) S 2p\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"image7.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7242379/v1/2f6647fdc502e3d0eed04d75.png"},{"id":91854274,"identity":"216fe587-39ec-4e80-8d80-f2d58ada9a9d","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-22 11:43:46","extension":"jpeg","order_by":7,"title":"Figure 7","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":50519,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eAdsorption of by Li\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eS\u003csub\u003e6\u003c/sub\u003e solution GO/GMMC\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"image8.jpeg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7242379/v1/ab75c74aa677cfdd2723b589.jpeg"},{"id":91852553,"identity":"e83ecde5-7300-4505-9675-d7cbcdcb150b","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-22 11:35:46","extension":"png","order_by":8,"title":"Figure 8","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":1234827,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e(a) First charge/discharge voltage profiles of S@GO/GMMC-X (X = 1, 2, 10) composites; (b) Cycling performanceof S@GO/GMMC-\u003cem\u003eX\u003c/em\u003e (\u003cem\u003eX\u003c/em\u003e= 1, 2, 10) composites at current density 0.1 C; (c) Charge/discharge profiles of S@GO/GMMC-10 compositesat 0.1 C; (d) CV curves of S@GO/GMMC-10 composites; (e)Cycling performance of S@GO/GMMC-10 composites and S@GMCS composites at current density 0.5 C; (f) Rate performance of S@GO/GMMC-10 composites and S@GMCS composites; (g) EIS spectra of S@GO/GMMC-10 composites and S@GMCS composites (inset: equivalent circuit); (h) Cycling performanceof S@GO/GMMC-10 composites at current density 1 C\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"image9.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7242379/v1/48e5ae0ed60ca576fb27f994.png"},{"id":100614530,"identity":"628495d5-7ef1-465d-a903-0deaf9225e91","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-19 17:21:39","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":3188541,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7242379/v1/8d87f9fe-b060-4a1c-97af-2216ba4fa240.pdf"},{"id":91852545,"identity":"c56163f5-2f99-4ddc-ad1a-1f38a2199c21","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-22 11:35:46","extension":"docx","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":118032,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"SupplementaryMaterial.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7242379/v1/8060ef8532ac47ddc20eff28.docx"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Graphene oxide/glucose-derived carbon composites as multiple effects hosts for lithium-sulfur batteries","fulltext":[{"header":"1. Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eLithium-sulfur batteries are the new generation of secondary battery systems with lithium metal as the anode electrodes and elemental sulfur as the cathode electrodes.[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e] Their theoretical energy density reaches 2600 Wh kg\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e, which is 3\u0026ndash;5 times of the traditional lithium-ion batteries, and the theoretical specific capacity is up to 1675 mAh g\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e, so they are considered to be one of the most promising secondary battery systems at present.[\u003cspan additionalcitationids=\"CR3\" citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e] Moreover, the abundant reserves, low price, and environmental friendliness of elemental sulfur make it more commercially competitive. Although lithium-sulfur batteries have advantages beyond the reach of current commercial lithium-ion batteries, there are still several challenges in the commercialization process of lithium-sulfur batteries: (1) The conductivity of sulfur is extremely poor, and in the discharge process will generate polysulfides, which have poor conductivity, affecting the batteries performance seriously;[\u003cspan additionalcitationids=\"CR6\" citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e] (2) In the process of charging and discharging, due to the large density difference between sulfur and polysulfides, the volume changes can reach 80% and improper stress release in the process of expansion and contraction is easily lead to the collapse of microstructure;[\u003cspan additionalcitationids=\"CR9\" citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e8\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e10\u003c/span\u003e] (3) \"Polysulfides generated during the discharge process are dissolved into the electrolyte, leading to a shuttle effect due to their migration between the anode and cathode electrodes through the separator will eventually lead to irreversible loss of active sulfur and reduce the batteries life.[\u003cspan additionalcitationids=\"CR12\" citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e11\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e13\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn recent years, conductive carbon materials with a large specific surface area as the carrier of sulfur have attracted a lot of attention.[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e14\u003c/span\u003e] Carbon materials can not only improve the conductivity of composites positive electrodes and the charge transfer efficiency of elemental sulfur but also construct a large number of effective ion channels with its complex pore structure, which is helpful to improve the cycle performance and rate performance of the batteries.[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e15\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e16\u003c/span\u003e] The porous structure accommodates the volume expansion of sulfur during cycling, thus helping maintain electrode integrity. [\u003cspan additionalcitationids=\"CR18\" citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e17\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e19\u003c/span\u003e] More importantly, the large specific surface area of carbon materials can play a role in the physical adsorption of polysulfides, limiting the dissolution of polysulfides to a certain extent and inhibiting the \"shuttle effect\".[\u003cspan additionalcitationids=\"CR21\" citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e20\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e22\u003c/span\u003e] ZnCl\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e is a widely used activator, which has a good dehydration effect on carbon precursors, leading to particle shrinkage.[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e23\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e24\u003c/span\u003e] In addition, the shrinkage and removal of zinc-based materials in the generated carbon materials are conducive to the construction of porous networks with large surface area.[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e25\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this work, glucose is used as the carbon source, the introduction of layered graphene oxide makes the carbon materials have good conductivity, providing a channel for the transmission of ions. ZnCl\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e is used as the activator to prepare GO/GMMC with high specific surface area. The appropriate pore size avoids the agglomeration of sulfur particles, Improving the utilization of active substances, the sulfur can exist in the form of chain rather than ring structure, which fundamentally inhibits the shuttle effect of polysulfides. S@GO/GMMC composites, prepared by melting impregnation, have a long-cycle life (discharge capacity of 713 mAh g\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e after 500 cycles at 1 C) and high rate performance.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"2. Experimental","content":"\u003cp\u003eDetailed information about experimental procedures and characterization of the materials can be found in supporting information.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"3. Results and discussion","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the Figs.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003ea-c, the GO with solid content of 1, 2 and 10 mg\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e mL\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e respectively. It can be clearly seen that the higher the solid content of GO, the more obvious its lamellar structure. Figures\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003ed and e are GO/GMMC-10 and S@GO/GMMC-10 composites. The abundant pore structure of GO/GMMC-10 can effectively physically detain sulfur. The layered porous structure of GO/GMMC improves the ability to capture polysulfides and further inhibits the shuttle effect in lithium-sulfur batteries.[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e26\u003c/span\u003e] To confirm the structure and components of the GO/GMMC-10 composites, EDS elemental analysis was carried out and the elemental mappings (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003ef) of the carbon, oxygen and sulfur content of the GO/GMMC-10 composites were obtained. The carbon, oxygen, sulfur and cuprum elements are distributed homogeneously in the GO/GMMC-10 composites.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFigure \u003cspan refid=\"Fig3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003ea is transmission images of GO/GMMC, the layered structure in GO/GMMC can be clearly seen, which is unique to GO. The lattice spacing shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003ec is 0.81 nm, which exactly corresponds to the lattice spacing of GO, indicating that GO does exist.[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e27\u003c/span\u003e] In the transmission diagram of Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003eb about S@GO/GMMC composites, it can be seen that sulfur permeates into GO/GMMC. The rich porous structure and layered structure of GO/GMMC provide a positive conductive skeleton for sulfur.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFigure \u003cspan refid=\"Fig4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003ea shows the XRD pattern of Sulfur, GO/GMMC, and S@GO/GMMC composites. It can be seen from the Figure that GO/GMMC has graphitic carbon diffraction peaks corresponding to (002) and (100) at 2θ\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;26\u0026deg; and 43\u0026deg;.[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e28\u003c/span\u003e] For S@GO/GMMC composites, there are obvious (002) and (100) diffraction peaks between 2θ\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;23\u0026deg;-26\u0026deg; and 43\u0026deg;, the remaining diffraction peaks are basically consistent with those of elemental sulfur, indicating that sulfur has high crystallinity and the micro-mesoporous structure of GO/GMMC absorbs sulfur well.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Raman spectra of Sulfur, GO/GMMC, and S@GO/GMMC composites are shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003eb. GO/GMMC and S@GO/GMMC composites have two distinct diffraction peaks at 1343 cm\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e and 1597 cm\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e. The D peak corresponds to the defect peak with low crystallinity, and the G peak corresponds to the characteristic peak of graphite structure with high crystallinity. The I\u003csub\u003eD\u003c/sub\u003e/I\u003csub\u003eG\u003c/sub\u003e value of S@GO/GMMC composites is higher than GO/GMMC, and the characteristic peak of sulfur can be seen in the range of 100\u0026ndash;500 cm\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e of S@GO/GMMC composites, indicating that the degree of graphitization of GO/GMMC decreased after the melting diffusion method due to GO/GMMC and sulfur have a good combination.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the FT-IR spectra (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003ec), the C-S bond appearing at 1112 cm\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e indicates that elemental sulfur reacts with GO/GMMC. The formation of C-S bond can restrain polysulfides and elemental sulfur, thus inhibiting the shuttle effect and improving the cycle performance of the batteries.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe TGA curves of Sulfur, GO/GMMC, and S@GO/GMMC composites are shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003ed. GO/GMMC has no mass loss in the temperature range of 30\u0026ndash;700\u0026deg;C due to high temperature activation at 800\u0026deg;C, and elemental sulfur is weightless at 242\u0026ndash;381\u0026deg;C. The mass loss of S@GO/GMMC composites reaches 70.5% in the range of 200\u0026ndash;390\u0026deg;C, indicating that the sulfur content of S@GO/GMMC composites is as high as 70.5%. Such high sulfur content is conducive to the better electrochemical performance of lithium-sulfur batteries.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo further explore the pore structure of GO/GMMC and S@GO/GMMC composites, the specific surface area test and gas adsorption pore size distribution test were conducted. The test results are shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig5\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003ea and b. It can be seen from Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig5\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003ea that the specific surface area of GO/GMMC-X (X\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;1,2,10) is above 1000 m\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e g\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e, while S@GO/GMMC-X (X\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;1,2,10) composites are only more than 1 m\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e g\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e. The significant reduction in the specific surface area and pore size is due to sulfur embedding in the pore structure of the GO/GMMC.[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR29\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e29\u003c/span\u003e] As shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig5\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003eb, the pore size on GO/GMMC is about 2\u0026ndash;3 nm, and S\u003csub\u003e8\u003c/sub\u003e molecules fracture to form S\u003csub\u003e2\u0026thinsp;\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;4\u003c/sub\u003e molecules under the high temperature at 155\u0026deg;C. due to the appropriate pore size of GO/GMMC, S\u003csub\u003e2\u0026thinsp;\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;4\u003c/sub\u003e molecules cannot be converted into S\u003csub\u003e4\u0026thinsp;\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;6\u003c/sub\u003e molecules. during the charge/discharge process, the short chain polysulfides which is relatively unstable cannot be converted into soluble long chain polysulfides, thus inhibiting the shuttle effect.[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR30\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e30\u003c/span\u003e] The rich pore structure and large specific surface area of GO/GMMC provide enough space for the volume change of sulfur during the charge/discharge process, ensuring the transfer of charges and ions, thus improving the utilization rate of sulfur.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFigure \u003cspan refid=\"Fig6\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e is the XPS spectra of S@GO/GMMC composites. It can be seen from the survey spectra (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig6\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003ea) that there are C, O, and S elements at S@GO/GMMC composites. Figure\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig6\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003eb is the C 1s spectra of S@GO/GMMC composites, four peaks of binding energy at 284.2, 284.8, 286.4, and 288.6 eV correspond to C-C/C\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;C, C-OH, C-S, O-C\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;O bond respectively. The existence of the C-S bond corresponds to the results of the infrared test, which is generated by the chemical reaction between GO/GMMC and sulfur after melting diffusion method. Figure\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig6\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003ec is the O 1s spectra of S@GO/GMMC composites. The catalytic activation process of ZnCl\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e brings more oxygen-containing groups to GO/GMMC, which can enhance the contact between carbon materials and sulfur, improve the adsorption ability of polysulfides, reduce the loss of sulfur, therefore inhibiting the shuttle effect. Figure\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig6\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003ed is the S 2p spectral diagram of S@GO/GMMC composites. The spin orbits of S 2p\u003csub\u003e1/2\u003c/sub\u003e and S 2p\u003csub\u003e3/2\u003c/sub\u003e in the C-S bond correspond to the energy positions of 163.3 eV and 164.5 eV. The peaks of 167.5 eV and 168.8 eV correspond to the O\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;S bond and thiosulphate.[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR31\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e31\u003c/span\u003e] The XPS results showed that sulfur was successfully introduced into the GO/GMMC carbon skeleton. GO/GMMC provides an effective spatial structure for polysulfides to inhibit the shuttle effect and improve the electrochemical performance of the batteries.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn order to prove that GO/GMMC can inhibit the shuttle effect during charging/discharging of batteries, adsorption experiments were conducted. The Li\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eS\u003csub\u003e6\u003c/sub\u003e solution was prepared by adding sulfur and Li\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eS (molar ratio 1:5) into the electrolyte and stirring in an argon atmosphere at 70\u0026deg;C for 48 h. An appropriate amount of Li\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eS\u003csub\u003e6\u003c/sub\u003e solution was added into 3 mL electrolyte, and 30 mg GO/GMMC was taken to adsorb polysulfides. The result is shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig7\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e. It can be clearly seen from the color that after six hours, the brownish-red changes to yellow obviously, and after 12 h, it becomes transparent directly. The result indicates that GO/GMMC has strong adsorption on polysulfides.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFigure 8 (a) First charge/discharge voltage profiles of S@GO/GMMC-X (X\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;1, 2, 10) composites; (b) Cycling performance of S@GO/GMMC-\u003cem\u003eX\u003c/em\u003e (\u003cem\u003eX\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;1, 2, 10) composites at current density 0.1 C; (c) Charge/discharge profiles of S@GO/GMMC-10 composites at 0.1 C; (d) CV curves of S@GO/GMMC-10 composites; (e) Cycling performance of S@GO/GMMC-10 composites and S@GMCS composites at current density 0.5 C; (f) Rate performance of S@GO/GMMC-10 composites and S@GMCS composites; (g) EIS spectra of S@GO/GMMC-10 composites and S@GMCS composites (inset: equivalent circuit); (h) Cycling performance of S@GO/GMMC-10 composites at current density 1 C\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn order to investigate the influence of different solid contents of GO on the electrochemical performance of sulfur cathode, we compared the first charge/discharge voltage profiles of S@GO/GMMC-\u003cem\u003eX\u003c/em\u003e (\u003cem\u003eX\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;1, 2, 10) composites, as shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;8a. It can be seen from the discharge curve that in the 1.65\u0026ndash;2.05 V discharge platform, Δ\u003cem\u003eH\u003c/em\u003e\u003csub\u003e1\u003c/sub\u003e represents the capacity provided by the conversion of S\u003csub\u003e8\u003c/sub\u003e into Li\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eS\u003csub\u003ex\u003c/sub\u003e (4\u0026thinsp;\u0026le;\u0026thinsp;\u003cem\u003ex\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026le;\u0026thinsp;8), and the higher Δ\u003cem\u003eH\u003c/em\u003e\u003csub\u003e1\u003c/sub\u003e means that more S\u003csub\u003e8\u003c/sub\u003e is converted into Li\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eS\u003csub\u003e\u003cem\u003ex\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/sub\u003e (4\u0026thinsp;\u0026le;\u0026thinsp;\u003cem\u003ex\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026le;\u0026thinsp;8). In the 1.55\u0026ndash;1.65 V discharge platform, Δ\u003cem\u003eH\u003c/em\u003e\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e represents the energy from Li\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eS\u003csub\u003e\u003cem\u003ex\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/sub\u003e (4\u0026thinsp;\u0026le;\u0026thinsp;\u003cem\u003ex\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026le;\u0026thinsp;8) to Li\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eS\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e/ Li\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eS. Higher Δ\u003cem\u003eH\u003c/em\u003e\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e means more Li\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eS\u003csub\u003e\u003cem\u003ex\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/sub\u003e is involved in the reaction and less is dissolved in the electrolyte. The detailed ratio of Δ\u003cem\u003eH\u003c/em\u003e\u003csub\u003e1\u003c/sub\u003e to Δ\u003cem\u003eH\u003c/em\u003e\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e was given in Figure \u003cspan refid=\"MOESM1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003eS1\u003c/span\u003e in the Supporting Information, the results show that S@GO/GMMC-10 composites have the most higher conversion rate of S\u003csub\u003e8\u003c/sub\u003e.[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR32\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e32\u003c/span\u003e] This is related to the high specific surface area of S@GO/GMMC-10 composites which promote the adsorption of polysulfides during discharge.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFigure 8b compares the cycle performance and charge/discharge efficiency of S@GO/GMMC-\u003cem\u003eX\u003c/em\u003e (\u003cem\u003eX\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;1, 2, 10) composites at 0.1 C current density. The initial discharge specific capacities of S@GO/GMMC-10 composites, S@GO/GMMC-2 composites, and S@GO/GMMC-1 composites are 1327 mAh g\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e, 1270 mAh g\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1,\u003c/sup\u003e and 1095 mAh g\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e respectively. After 100 cycles, the discharge specific capacities of the three remain at 1074 mAh g\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e, 722 mAh g\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e and 606 mAh g\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e. The results show that the specific initial discharge capacity and capacity retention rate of S@GO/GMMC-10 composites are much higher than that of S@GO/GMMC-2 composites and S@GO/GMMC-1 composites, because with the increase of the solid content of GO, the layered structure becomes more obvious, providing a conductive skeleton for the transmission of lithium ions.[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR33\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e33\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR34\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e34\u003c/span\u003e] It plays the role of imprisoning polysulfides and improves the utilization rate of sulfur.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFigure 8c shows the charge/discharge curve (current density is 0.1 C) of S@GO/GMMC-10 composites at a voltage range of 1.5\u0026ndash;2.8 V. As can be seen that the discharge specific capacity of S@GO/GMMC-10 composites in the second and third circles is lower than that in the 50th and 100th circles. This is also consistent with the cycle performance curve of S@GO/GMMC-10 composites at 0.1 C in Fig.\u0026nbsp;8b, which has a trend of first decreasing and then increasing. This is because the active substance in the cathode has not been activated at low rate, resulting in low discharge specific capacity.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn order to further explore the redox reaction of S@GO/GMMC-10 composites during the charge/discharge process, a CV test was performed (scanning rate was 0.1 mV s\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e, voltage range was 1.5\u0026ndash;2.8 V). According to Fig.\u0026nbsp;8d, each curve has two distinct redox peaks. During the discharge process, the reduction peaks at 2.05 V and 1.65 V are related to the formation Li\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eS\u003csub\u003e\u003cem\u003ex\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/sub\u003e (4\u0026thinsp;\u0026le;\u0026thinsp;\u003cem\u003ex\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026le;\u0026thinsp;8) and further reduction to Li\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eS\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e/Li\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eS, while the oxidation peaks at 1.85 V and 2.35 V are reversible processes.[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR35\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e35\u003c/span\u003e] The position of these peaks also corresponds to the charge/discharge curve, and the obvious redox peaks on the electrode indicate that S@GO/GMMC composites have good electrical conductivity. In addition, the voltammetry curves of the first three cycles almost coincide, indicating the high reversibility of the charge/discharge reaction.[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR36\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e36\u003c/span\u003e] The discharge platform of the composites is lower than that of the traditional discharge platform, which is attributed to the electrochemical polarization of the materials. [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e] In addition, the decrease in the specific capacity of the battery is attributed to the shuttle effect of sulfides and polysulfides on the surface of the composite material during cycling.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFurther explored the influence of GO on the cathode of lithium-sulfur batteries, we compared the cycle performance and charge/discharge efficiency of S@GO/GMMC composites and S@GMCS composites at 0.5 C. As shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;8e, the initial discharge capacity of S@GO/GMMC composites is 1327 mAh g\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e, while S@GMCS composites is 1368 mAh g\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e. The low coulomb efficiency in the initial cycle can be attributed to the formation of the solid electrolyte interface (SEI) layer.[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR33\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e33\u003c/span\u003e] After 200 cycles, the specific discharge capacity of S@GO/GMMC composites can remain 858 mAh g\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e, while S@GMCS composites is only 225 mAh g\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e, which decreases quickly. The charge/discharge efficiency of both is basically maintained at 100%. This indicates that S@GO/GMMC composites have better cycle performance at high rate than S@GO/GMMC composites.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFigure 8f shows the charge/discharge performance comparison of S@GO/GMMC composites and S@GMCS composites at different rates. At high rates (0.5 C, 1 C), the specific discharge capacity of S@GO/GMMC composites is higher than S@GMCS composites, which further indicates that S@GO/GMMC composites have good electron and ion conduction ability and can effectively alleviate the shuttle effect of polysulfides, and show good electrochemical performance.[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR37\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e37\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFigure 8g is the EIS spectra of S@GMCS composites and S@GO/GMMC composites (inset: equivalent circuit), R\u003csub\u003ee\u003c/sub\u003e represents the electrolyte impedance of the batteries, R\u003csub\u003ect\u003c/sub\u003e is the charge transfer impedance generated during the electrochemical transfer process, CPE is the double-layer capacitor, \u003cem\u003eZ\u003c/em\u003e\u003csub\u003ew\u003c/sub\u003e represents the Warburg impedance, as can be seen from the Fig.\u0026nbsp;8g, The EIS spectra are composed of a semicircle and an inclined line. The diameter of the semicircle in the high frequency region is attributed to the charge transfer impedance, while the slant in the low frequency region is attributed to the Warburg impedance.[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR38\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e38\u003c/span\u003e] The charge transfer impedance of S@GO/GMMC composites cathode (47 Ω) is lower than S@GMCS composites (85 Ω), indicating that the electrochemical reaction kinetics of S@GO/GMMC composites is fast.[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR32\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e32\u003c/span\u003e] This is one of the reasons S@GO/GMMC composites perform well at high rate cycles.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFigure 8h shows that the initial specific discharge capacity of S@GO/GMMC composites is 1260 mAh g\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e at 1 C after 500 cycles remaining 713 mAh g\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e. The coulomb efficiency of the batteries remains above 98%, which further proves the interception effect of GO/GMMC on soluble polysulfides and effectively inhibits the shuttle effect.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"4. Conclusions","content":"\u003cp\u003eIn summary, the S@GO/GMMC composite materials were synthesized via hydrothermal carbonization self-assembly followed by high-temperature ZnCl₂ activation. The S@GO/GMMC composites demonstrate excellent cycle life, superior kinetic properties, and remarkable electrochemical stability. The excellent conductivity of S@GO/GMMC composites can improve the dynamic performance of the cathode. The initial specific discharge capacity of S@GO/GMMC composites is 1260 mAh g\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e at 1 C, and excellent cycle performance for 500 cycles with a retained capacity of 713 mAh g\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e, and the coulomb efficiency remained above 98%. Moreover, the ultra-high surface area of GO/GMMC ensured a high sulfur load. Its pore size is distributed at 2\u0026ndash;3 nm, which helps to prevent the formation of soluble long-chain polysulfides, and fundamentally inhibits the shuttle effect.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003ch2\u003eFunding Declaration: \u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis work is supported by the Central Guidance for Local Science and Technology Development Fund Projects (ZY24212040) and the Guangxi Natural Science Foundation (2025GXNSFAA069249)\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eAuthor Contribution\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eXingqin Xie: Methodology, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Writing\u0026minus;original draft. Guixiang He: Project administration, Conceptualization, Writing review \u0026amp; editing. Xuexian Jiang: Writing review \u0026amp; editing, Investigation.: Rui Du: Software, Visualization. Lusen Wang: Supervision. Wenquan Li: Formal analysis, Validation, Xuze Li:Formal analysis, Validation. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eCai T, Zhao L, Hu H et al (2018) Stable CoSe\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e/carbon nanodice@reduced graphene oxide composites for high-performance rechargeable aluminum-ion batteries. Energy Environ Sci 11:2341\u0026ndash;2347\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFeng W, Yang H, Pu Z, Zhang L (2022) Study of CNTs-MoS\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e/CeO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e composites for lithium-sulfur battery performance. Ionics (Kiel) 28:2781\u0026ndash;2791\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eCarbone L, Del Rio Castillo AE, Kumar Panda J et al (2020) High-Sulfur‐Content Graphene‐Based Composite through Ethanol Evaporation for High‐Energy Lithium‐Sulfur Battery. 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Ceram Int 45:9017\u0026ndash;9024\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"journal-of-applied-electrochemistry","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"jach","sideBox":"Learn more about [Journal of Applied Electrochemistry](http://link.springer.com/journal/10800)","snPcode":"10800","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/10800/3","title":"Journal of Applied Electrochemistry","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"glucose, graphene oxide, lithium-sulfur battery, cathode material","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7242379/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7242379/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThis study used glucose as a carbon source, graphene oxide (GO) as a template, and surfactants to achieve the bonding effect, hydrothermal carbonization self-assembly into black-brown columnar carbon materials (GO/GC). Then the precursor carbon materials were etched with ZnCl\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e by chemical activation method to synthesize micro-mesoporous carbon materials (GO/GMMC). By melting diffusion method, carbon materials and sulfur are combined to form sulfur @ micro-mesoporous carbon composites (S@GO/GMMC composites). As the positive conductive skeleton of lithium-sulfur batteries, it has good electrical conductivity and can effectively block and adsorb polysulfides and inhibit the shuttle effect of polysulfides. Therefore, S@GO/GMMC composites show excellent electrochemical performance as a cathode for lithium-sulfur batteries. At 1 C, the initial discharge capacity of S@GO/GMMC composites is 1260 mAh g\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e, after 500 cycles, the discharge capacity remains 713 mAh g\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Graphene oxide/glucose-derived carbon composites as multiple effects hosts for lithium-sulfur batteries","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-09-22 11:27:41","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7242379/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2025-10-04T21:07:06+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-10-03T14:15:13+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-09-16T02:07:32+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"221942913884661344677885417159001841798","date":"2025-09-16T01:12:38+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"170700422964140342699926406926612415693","date":"2025-09-13T14:29:15+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-09-13T13:23:34+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-08-02T00:30:24+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-07-30T04:22:24+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Journal of Applied Electrochemistry","date":"2025-07-29T10:39:56+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"journal-of-applied-electrochemistry","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"jach","sideBox":"Learn more about [Journal of Applied Electrochemistry](http://link.springer.com/journal/10800)","snPcode":"10800","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/10800/3","title":"Journal of Applied Electrochemistry","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"30f4898f-62dd-4ec0-a48f-5bf80d501b85","owner":[],"postedDate":"September 22nd, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-01-19T16:45:37+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-7242379","link":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10800-025-02412-z","journal":{"identity":"journal-of-applied-electrochemistry","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Journal of Applied Electrochemistry"},"publishedOn":"2026-01-14 16:29:06","publishedOnDateReadable":"January 14th, 2026"},"versionCreatedAt":"2025-09-22 11:27:41","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1007/s10800-025-02412-z","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10800-025-02412-z","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7242379","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7242379","identity":"rs-7242379","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}