Boosted polysulfides regulation by iron carbide nanoparticles-embedded porous biomass-derived carbon toward superior lithium–sulfur batteries

Lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries are greatly expected to be the favored alternatives in the next-generation energy-storage technologies due to their exceptional advantages. However, the shuttle effect and sluggish reaction kinetics of polysulfides largely hamper the practical success of Li–S batteries. Herein, a unique iron carbide (Fe₃C) nanoparticles-embedded porous biomass-derived carbon (Fe₃C-PBC) is reported as the excellent immobilizer and promoter for polysulfides regulation. Such a distinctive composite strongly couples the vast active sites of Fe₃C nanoparticles and the conductive network of porous biomass-derived carbon. Therefore, Fe₃C-PBC is endowed with outstanding adsorptivity and catalytic effect toward inhibiting the shuttle effect and facilitating the redox kinetics of polysulfides, demonstrated by the detailed experimental demonstrations and theoretical calculation. With these synergistic effects, the Fe₃C-PBC/S electrode embraces a superb capacity retention of 82.7% at 2C over 500 cycles and an excellent areal capacity of 4.81 mAh cm⁻² under the high-sulfur loading of 5.2 mg cm⁻². This work will inspire the design of advanced hosts based on biomass materials for polysulfides regulation in pursuing the superior Li–S batteries.