Facile Synthesis of a “Two-in-One” Sulfur Host Featuring Metallic-Cobalt-Embedded N‑Doped Carbon Nanotubes for Efficient Lithium-Sulfur Batteries

The exploration of efficient host materials of sulfur is significant for the practical lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries, and the hosts are expected to be highly conductive for high sulfur utilization and exhibit strong interaction toward polysulfides to suppress the shuttle effect for long-lasting cycle stability. Herein, we propose a simple synthesis of metallic cobalt-embedded N-doping carbon nanotubes (Co@NCNT) as a “two-in-one” host of sulfur for efficient Li-S batteries. In the binary host, the N-doped CNTs, cooperating with metallic Co nanoparticles, can serve as 3D conductive networks for fast electron transportation, while the synergetic effect of metallic Co and doping N heteroatoms helps to chemically confine polysulfides, acting as active sites to accelerate electrochemical kinetics. With these advantages, the S/Co@NCNT composite delivers an excellent cycling stability with a capacity decay of 0.08% per cycle averaged within 500 cycles at a current density of 1 A g–1 and a high rate performance of 530 mA h g–1 at 5 A g–1. Further, the superior electrochemical performance of the S/Co@NCNT electrode can be maintained under a high sulfur loading up to 4 mg cm–2. Our work demonstrates a feasible strategy to design promising host materials simultaneously featuring high conductivity and strong confinement toward polysulfides for high-performance Li-S batteries

Efficient Polysulfide Redox Enabled by Lattice-Distorted Ni₃Fe Intermetallic Electrocatalyst-Modified Separator for Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

Exploring efficient electrocatalysts for lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries is of great significance for the sulfur/polysulfide/sulfide multiphase conversion. Herein, we report nickel–iron intermetallic (Ni3Fe) as a novel electrocatalyst to trigger the highly efficient polysulfide-involving surface reactions. The incorporation of iron into the cubic nickel phase can induce strong electronic interaction and lattice distortion, thereby activating the inferior Ni phase to catalytically active Ni3Fe phase. Kinetics investigations reveal that the Ni3Fe phase promotes the redox kinetics of the multiphase conversion of Li–S electrochemistry. As a result, the Li–S cells assembled with a 70 wt % sulfur cathode and a Ni3Fe-modified separator deliver initial capacities of 1310.3 mA h g–1 at 0.1 C and 598 mA h g–1 at 4 C with excellent rate capability and a long cycle life of 1000 cycles at 1 C with a low capacity fading rate of ∼0.034 per cycle. More impressively, the Ni3Fe-catalyzed cells exhibit outstanding performance even at harsh working conditions, such as high sulfur loading (7.7 mg cm–2) or lean electrolyte/sulfur ratio (∼6 μL mg–1). This work provides a new concept on exploring advanced intermetallic catalysts for high-rate and long-life Li–S batteries