Rational design of a cobalt sulfide nanoparticle-embedded flexible carbon nanofiber membrane electrocatalyst for advanced lithium-sulfur batteries

Chenfeng Zhang; Cailing Song; Zongke He; Yan Zhao; Yusen He; Zhumabay Bakenov

doi:10.1088/1361-6528/ac18a2

Rational design of a cobalt sulfide nanoparticle-embedded flexible carbon nanofiber membrane electrocatalyst for advanced lithium-sulfur batteries

Nanotechnology. 2021 Aug 17;32(45). doi: 10.1088/1361-6528/ac18a2.

Authors

Chenfeng Zhang¹, Cailing Song¹, Zongke He², Yan Zhao¹, Yusen He¹, Zhumabay Bakenov³

Affiliations

¹ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300130, People's Republic of China.
² Hebei Provincial Key Laboratory of Green Chemical Technology and High Efficient Energy Saving, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Chemical Process Safety, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300130, People's Republic of China.
³ Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, National Laboratory Astana, Nazarbayev University, Institute of Batteries LLP, Nur-Sultan, 010000, Kazakhstan.

PMID: 34320472
DOI: 10.1088/1361-6528/ac18a2

Abstract

Both the sluggish redox kinetics and severe polysulfide shuttling behavior hinders the commercialization of lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery. To solve these obstacles, we design a cobalt sulfide nanoparticle-embedded flexible carbon nanofiber membrane (denoted as CoS₂@NCF) as sulfiphilic functional interlayer materials. The hierarchically porous structure of carbon nanofiber is conducive to immobilizing sulfur species and facilitating lithium-ion penetration. Moreover, electrocatalytic CoS₂nanoparticles can significantly enhance the catalytic effect, achieving favorable adsorption-diffusion-conversion interface of polysulfide. Combined with these synergistic features, the assembled Li-S cell with CoS₂@NCF interlayer exhibited a great discharge capacity of 950.9 mAh g^-1with prolonged cycle lifespan at 1 C (maintained 648.1 mAh g^-1over 500 cycles). This multifunctional interlayer material used in this contribution provides an advanced route for developing high-energy-density Li-S battery.

Keywords: CoS2@NCF composite; catalytic conversion; interlayer; polysulfide shuttling.