Issue 15, 2021

Strong intermolecular polarization to boost polysulfide conversion kinetics for high-performance lithium–sulfur batteries

Abstract

The sluggish kinetics of complex redox reactions in the lithium–sulfur (Li–S) battery still hinders the fulfillment of its promising potential for next-generation energy storage devices. Herein, we introduce CoIn2S4-nanostructured particles assembled with nanosheets as the catalyst to boost the polysulfide conversion kinetics in the Li–S battery. This strategy enables the Li–S battery to achieve a high rate capacity of 686 mA h g−1 at 3C and allows it to be further applied in the pouch cell configuration with a total sulfur loading of 250 mg and E/S ratio of 5 μL mgS−1. The essential catalytic mechanism of the CoIn2S4 toward redox reactions is by targeting the rate-limiting process as concluded here from the electrochemical and in situ Raman studies, and as could be further evidenced by the theoretical analysis that indicated that the conversion barrier of short-chain polysulfides on the surface of CoIn2S4 is reduced and the charge transfer from CoIn2S4 to Li2S4 is enhanced due to the strong intermolecular polarization. The current work provides an insight into the catalytic mechanism focusing on the kinetics provided by in situ analysis, and demonstrates a new strategy for constructing highly practical Li–S batteries.

Graphical abstract: Strong intermolecular polarization to boost polysulfide conversion kinetics for high-performance lithium–sulfur batteries

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
28 Jan 2021
Accepted
21 Mar 2021
First published
22 Mar 2021

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2021,9, 9771-9779

Strong intermolecular polarization to boost polysulfide conversion kinetics for high-performance lithium–sulfur batteries

Y. Hu, A. Hu, J. Wang, X. Niu, M. Zhou, W. Chen, T. Lei, J. Huang, Y. Li, L. Xue, Y. Fan, X. Wang and J. Xiong, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2021, 9, 9771 DOI: 10.1039/D1TA00798J

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements