Method for the fabrication of an electroless-metal-plated sulfur nanocomposite, an electroless-metal-plated sulfur cathode which is made from the nanocomposite, and a battery that uses the cathode

A method for fabrication of an electroless-metal-plated sulfur cathode by drop-casting, comprising the steps of:

• dissolving an electroless-metal-plated sulfur nanocomposite in an electrolyte, and drop-casting the dissolved electroless-metal-plated sulfur nanocomposite on a current collector to form an electroless-metal-plated sulfur cathode which contains sulfur loading;
• wherein the electroless-metal-plated sulfur nanocomposite is fabricated by a method comprising:
• a. a sensitization step, wherein a sensitization solution is prepared by adding SnCl2 to HCl, sulfur powder is added to the sensitization solution and stirred, and the sensitization solution is filtered to collect a sensitized powder;
• b. an activation step, wherein an activation solution is prepared by adding PdCl2 to HCl, the sensitized powder is added to the activation solution and stirred, and the activation solution is filtered to collect a pre-treated powder;
• c. an acidic chemically plating step, wherein a solution 1 containing metal ions is prepared by dissolving sodium acetate and metallic salt in deionized water;
• a solution 2 is prepared by dissolving NaH2PO2·H2O in deionized water;
• solution 1 and solution 2 are preheated to the same temperature and mixed to form a mixture solution, the pre-treated powder is added to the mixture solution and stirred until the metal ions are reduced to metal atoms and form a resulting product, then the resulting product is filtered, dried and ground to form an electroless-metal-plated sulfur nanocomposite,
• wherein the sensitization solution with the sulfur powder is stirred for 60 to 180 minutes in the sensitization step, wherein the activation solution with the sensitized powder is stirred for 60 to 180 minutes in the activation step, and wherein the mixture solution with the pre-treated powder is stirred for 60 to 180 minutes in the acidic chemically plating step;
• wherein the electroless-metal-plated sulfur cathode does not include a conductive carbon or a binder.