Unveiling the autocatalytic growth of Li2S crystals at the solid-liquid interface in lithium-sulfur batteries

Zhen Wu, Mingliang Liu, Wenfeng He, Tong Guo, Wei Tong, Erjun Kan, Xiaoping Ouyang (), Fen Qiao, Junfeng Wang, Xueliang Sun, Xin Wang, Junwu Zhu (), Ali Coskun () and Yongsheng Fu ()
Additional contact information
Zhen Wu: Nanjing University of Science and Technology
Mingliang Liu: Nanjing University of Science and Technology
Wenfeng He: Nanjing University of Science and Technology
Tong Guo: Nanjing University of Science and Technology
Wei Tong: Nanjing University of Science and Technology
Erjun Kan: Nanjing University of Science and Technology
Xiaoping Ouyang: Xiangtan University
Fen Qiao: Jiangsu University
Junfeng Wang: Jiangsu University
Xueliang Sun: University of Western Ontario
Xin Wang: Nanjing University of Science and Technology
Junwu Zhu: Nanjing University of Science and Technology
Ali Coskun: University of Fribourg
Yongsheng Fu: Nanjing University of Science and Technology

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Electrocatalysts are extensively employed to suppress the shuttling effect in lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries. However, it remains challenging to probe the sulfur redox reactions and mechanism at the electrocatalyst/LiPS interface after the active sites are covered by the solid discharge products Li2S/Li2S2. Here, we demonstrate the intrinsic autocatalytic activity of the Li2S (100) plane towards lithium polysulfides on single-atom nickel (SANi) electrocatalysts. Guided by theoretical models and experimental data, it is concluded that LiPS dissociates into Li2S2 and short-chain LiPS on the Li2S (100) plane. Subsequently, Li2S2 undergoes further lithiation to Li2S on the Li2S (100) surface, generating a new Li2S (100) layer, thus enabling the autocatalytic formation of a new Li2S (100) surface. Benefiting from the autocatalytic growth of Li2S, the concentration of LiPS in the electrolyte remains at a lower level, enabling Li-S batteries under high loading and low electrolyte conditions to exhibit superior electrochemical performance.

Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-53797-y Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:15:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-53797-y

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-53797-y

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().