Salacca peel-based porous carbon (SPPC) with high surface area (1945 m2 g−1) and large specific pore volume (1.68 cm3 g−1) was prepared by pre-carbonization and K2CO3 activation method. Based on the TGA results, it can be estimated that up to 70 wt% of sulfur-active materials could be infiltrated into the pores of SPPC to form SPPC/S composite cathode for LiS battery. The porous structure of SPPC could act as a buffer layer against volume expansion and minimize the shuttle effect due to the penetration of intermediate polysulfides during cycle tests. Optimization on sulfur loading (50, 60 and 70 wt%) in SPPCC/S composite was also investigated. It was found that the SPPC/S composites with 60 wt% of sulfur loading had the best electrochemical performances. With 60 wt% of sulfur loading, SPPC/S composite electrodes showed excellent electrochemical performances in terms of high initial specific discharge capacity of 1006 mAh g− 1 at 0.5 C and capacity retention of 71% until the 100th cycle. For both cases of low and high sulfur loading, they caused much worse electrochemical performances. Based on the experimental results, it can be concluded that porous carbons derived from the salacca peel were promising materials for sulfur loading in LiS battery.

Boron doped fullerene C60 (B:C60) films were prepared by the thermal evaporation of C60 powder using argon plasma treatment. The morphology and structural characteristics of the thin films were investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR) and x-ray photo electron spectroscopy (XPS). The electrochemical application of the boron doped fullerene film as a coating layer for silicon anodes in lithium ion batteries was also investigated. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) measurements were applied to the B:C60 coated silicon electrodes at a scan rate of 0.05 mVs-1. The CV results show that the B:C60 coating layer act as a passivation layer with respect to the insertion and extraction of lithium ions into the silicon film electrode.