Synergic effect of covalent and chemical sulfur fixation enhancing the immobilization-conversion of polysulfides in lithium-sulfur batteries

Lithium-sulfur batteries(LSBs)are promising as the next generation energy storage options.However,their wide applications have been technically challenged by the diffusion losses of polysulfides and polysulfide shuttle effect.In this work,the small organic molecules of 2,5-dichloropyrazine(2,5-DCP)were combined with Co-doped carbon(CoA NAC)flakes to achieve the synergic effect of the covalent and chemical sulfur fixation,so as that the immobilization-conversion of polysulfides in LSBs was greatly enhanced.More specifically,the nucleophilic substitution of the 2,5-DCP additive in the electrolyte with polysulfides formed the CAS bonds.Through the further covalent N-Li bonds between the N atoms in 2,5-DCP and polysulfides,sulfur fixation was achieved in the form of solid organosulfur.Meanwhile,the CoA NAC flakes served as the sulfur cathode to chemically anchor the polysulfides.The interaction mechanism between CoA NAC/2,5-DCP and polysulfides was explored by the density functional theory(DFT)calculations and in-situ infrared spectroscopy.The results showed that the optimal“with 2,5-DCP”sample-assembled LSB exhibited an initial discharge specific capacity of 1244 mA h g^(-1)at 0.2C,and a capacity decay rate of 0.053%per cycle was displayed after 800 cycles at 1C.The good cycling stability with a high sulfur-loaded electrode sample suggested that the synergic effect of covalent/chemical sulfur fixation enabled the enhancement of polysulfides immobilization-conversion in LSBs.

Monophase-homointerface electrodes intrinsically stabilize high-voltage all-solid-state batteries

The electrochemical stability and contact reliability of heterointerfaces between the solid electrolyte(SE) and electrode are critical for all-solid-state batteries(ASSBs), particularly much more challenging for high-voltage ASSBs, owing to the limited thermodynamically electrochemical window and mechanical inflexibility of SE, aggravating interfacial side reactions and contact failure. Considering all those issues originating from intrinsic heterogeneity in physicochemical features between the cathode material and SE, we are thinking about simplifying the heterointerfaces into a homointerface as a permanent cure to solve all electrochemical-mechanical interfacial failure. Herein, we propose monophase cathodes to construct thermodynamically stable all-in-one homointerfaces in ASS electrodes, removing unstable heterointerfaces by excluding SEs and intrinsically eliminating the Li chemical potential gap to avoid the formation of lithium-depleted space-charge layer and highly resistive mixed ion–electron conductor interphase. Our conception is successfully validated in the layered transition-metal oxide cathodes, which display outstanding stability no matter the MH-LiCoO_(2) cathode charging to 4.7 V or MH-Li_(1.2)Mn_(0.54)Ni_(0.13)-Co_(0.13)O_(2) cathode charging to 5.3 V. It is undeniable that our current version of above-illustrated MH-cathodes would bring out some new challenges for the practical application due to abandoning the SE. However, we believe our work also offers a brandnew direction to ultimately address the electrochemical–mechanical interfacial issues that would be promising for high-energy ASSBs with more discoveries of advanced monophase cathodes in the future.