A "Catalysis-Immobilization-Deposition" Stepwise Strategy toward Dynamic Equilibrium of Polysulfides Conversion and Diffusion in Lithium-Sulfur Batteries

Achieving a smooth "adsorption-diffusion-conversion" of polysulfides enabled by MnO2-ZnS p-n heterojunction for Li-S battery

The commercial application of lithium-sulfur batteries is primarily impeded by the constant shuttling of soluble polysulfides and sluggish redox kinetics. Nowadays, the discovery of the heterojunction, which combines materials with diverse properties, offers a new perspective for overcoming these obstacles. Herein, a functional coating separator for the lithium-sulfur battery is designed using a MnO2-ZnS p-n heterojunction with a spontaneous built-in electric field (BIEF). The MnO2 nanowire provides suitable adsorption capacity for polysulfides, while the abundant reactive sites brought by ZnS ensure efficient conversion. Moreover, the BIEF significantly facilitates the migration of electrons and polysulfides at the MnO2-ZnS interface, enabling a smooth "adsorption-diffusion-conversion" reaction mechanism. By serving as both the adsorption module and catalytic sites, this BIEF allows batteries utilizing separators modified with MnO2-ZnS heterojunction to achieve an impressive initial capacity of 1511.1 mAh g-1 at 0.1C and maintain a capacity decay rate of merely 0.048% per cycle at 2.0C after 1000 cycles. Even when increasing sulfur loading to 9.4 mg cm-2 in lean electrolyte (5.4 μL mg-1), the battery still exhibits an ultrahigh areal capacity of 6.0 mAh cm-2 after 100 cycles.

Reinforcing the Adsorption and Conversion of Polysulfides in Li-S Battery by Incorporating Molybdenum into MnS/MnO Nanorods

The Sabatier principle suggests that an excessive adsorption of lithium polysulfides (LiPSs) by metal compounds may hinder their conversion in the absence of a conversion module. Therefore, it is imperative to establish a synergetic effect mechanism between "strong adsorption" and "rapid conversion" for LiPSs. To achieve this coexistence, a molybdenum-doped MnS/MnO@C porous structure is designed as a multifunctional coating on the polypropylene (PP) separator. The incorporation of MnS/MnO@C enhances the adsorption capacity towards LiPSs, while molybdenum facilitates subsequent conversion. Benefiting from the synergistic effect of each component and its large specific surface area, the cell with Mo-doped MnS/MnO@C coating achieves smooth adsorption-diffusion-conversion processes and exhibits an appreciable rate performance with outstanding cycling stability. Even when sulfur loading increases to 9.68 mg cm-2 , the modified battery delivers an excellent initial areal capacity of 11.69 mAh cm-2 and maintains 6.97 mAh cm-2 after 50 cycles at 0.1 C. This study presents a promising approach to simultaneously accomplish "strong adsorption" and "rapid conversion" of polysulfides, offering novel perspectives for devising dual-functional modified separators.

The Voltage-Adaptive Effect in Lithium-Sulfur Batteries Integrated with an Electron-Conductive Interlayer

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries are considered as one of the top competitors to go beyond Li-ion batteries. However, the shuttle effect triggered by soluble lithium polysulfides (LPSs) brings great troubles for understanding the solid-liquid-solid conversion process of the sulfur cathode. Herein, a new characterization technique is developed to deepen the understanding of such soluble LPSs shuttling, by integrating an electron-conductive interlayer. The voltage of the interlayer exhibits a voltage-adaptive effect to the cathode, indicating the true dependence of the open-circuit voltages on the LPSs instead of on the solid cathodes. Furthermore, a quantitative method can be introduced to monitor the shuttling LPSs by such interlayer design, and it shows great potential to be a new standard technique, providing direct comparison of the shuttle effect between different studies. The newly developed interlayer design paves an avenue to gain new insight into the reaction process and improve the performance of Li-S batteries.