Kilogram scale inverse vulcanization of elemental sulfur to prepare high capacity polymer electrodes for Li‐S batteries

The synthesis of high content sulfur copolymers via the inverse vulcanization of elemental sulfur and 1,3‐diisopropenylbenzene (DIB) on a one‐kilogram scale is reported in a single step process. Investigation into the effects of temperature, reaction scale, and comonomer feed ratios on the inverse vulcanization process of S 8 and DIB were explored to suppress the Trommsdorf effect and enable large scale synthesis of these copolymers. The copolymers were then successfully used as the active cathode materials in Li‐S batteries, exhibiting enhanced capacity retention and battery lifetimes (608 mAh/g at 640 cycles) at a C/10 rate.