LAUSR

Abstract 3D polymeric graphene foam (PGF) deposited with Mn3O4 nanocrystals are synthesized via a structural-enhanced microwave plasma technique as highly efficient electrocatalyst for lithium–sulfur battery. The uniform pore-structure of PGF enables high-temperature Ar plasma around 1536 K under microwave irradiation, which leads to super heating/cooling rate of >13700 K s-1 forming Mn3O4 nanocrystals in 1.2 seconds. Interconnected PGF layers deposited with the Mn3O4 crystals around 8 nm in diameters can effectively promote the electron transport and anchoring/catalyzing the polysulfides conversion. The cathode exhibits a good capacity fading of 0.092 % per cycle over 300 discharge/charge cycles at 0.2 C, indicating good reversibility. The high Mn3O4/graphene ratio and small particle size of the nanocomposite are hard to achieve by other methods within this short period. The instant and low‐cost synthesis method is readily scalable and may provide a promising direction for the practical manufacturing of high-performance Li-S batteries.