Abstract
Lithium–sulfur batteries (LSBs) currently face challenges including lithium polysulfide shuttling, sluggish sulfur redox kinetics, severe lithium dendrite growth, and volume change. Herein, an advanced dual-functional host is designed by embedding 3D N-doped carbon fibers with abundant 2D V2CTx nanosheets (N/CF@V2CTx). The N-doped carbon fibers act as “thread” to connect the V2CTx nanosheets and form a unique open 3D macroporous structure. This structure effectively prevents the restacking of the V2CTx nanosheets and exposes their lithiophilic and sulfurophilic sites. Consequently, the N/CF@V2CTx host effectively suppresses the shuttling of LiPSs and improves the cathodic kinetics. Furthermore, the 3D-ordered porous skeleton integrated with abundant lithophilic sites enables uniform Li deposition and homogeneous Li-ion flux, thereby inhibiting dendrite growth and mitigating volume expansion. The as-assembled LSBs exhibit excellent rate capability (640 mAh g−1 at 15 C) and outstanding cycling stability (0.019% capacity decay per cycle throughout 1200 cycles at 1 C). Moreover, the pouch cell assembled with the N/CF@V2CTx host demonstrates a high energy density of 350 Wh kg−1 and good cycling stability. This research presents a promising approach to address the challenges of both the sulfur cathode and the lithium anode comprehensively and effectively in working LSBs.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Article number | 2309624 |
Journal | Advanced Functional Materials |
Volume | 34 |
Issue number | 7 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 12 Feb 2024 |
Keywords
- lithium dendrite
- lithium polysulfides
- lithium–sulfur batteries
- MXene
- pouch cells