Inverse Vulcanization of Elemental Sulfur to Prepare Polymeric Electrode Materials for Li–S Batteries

Sulfur-rich copolymers based on poly­(sulfur-<i>random-</i>1,3-diisopropenylbenzene) (poly­(S-<i>r</i>-DIB)) were synthesized via inverse vulcanization to create cathode materials for lithium–sulfur battery applications. These materials exhibit enhanced capacity retention (1005 mAh/g at 100 cycles) and battery lifetimes over 500 cycles at a C/10 rate. These poly­(S-<i>r</i>-DIB) copolymers represent a new class of polymeric electrode materials that exhibit one of the highest charge capacities reported, particularly after extended charge–discharge cycling in Li–S batteries