Zirconia-supported cobalt nanoparticles as high-performance sulfur cathode for lithium-sulfur batteries

Zongke He; Jing Li; Jinghan Zhang; Xinnan Zhao; Xiaochen Wang; Tongtao Wan; Changcheng Wu; Guihua Liu

doi:10.1088/1361-6528/ac8b8d

Zirconia-supported cobalt nanoparticles as high-performance sulfur cathode for lithium-sulfur batteries

Nanotechnology. 2022 Sep 15;33(48). doi: 10.1088/1361-6528/ac8b8d.

Authors

Zongke He¹, Jing Li¹, Jinghan Zhang¹, Xinnan Zhao¹, Xiaochen Wang¹, Tongtao Wan¹, Changcheng Wu¹, Guihua Liu¹

Affiliation

¹ Hebei Provincial Key Laboratory of Green Chemical Technology and Highly 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.

PMID: 35994980
DOI: 10.1088/1361-6528/ac8b8d

Abstract

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery is now a promising technology for energy storage. However, rapid capacity decay due to sulfur dissolution and shutting effect severely limit its commercial development. In this work, a NH₂-UIO-66 metal organic framework-derived porous composite (Co-ZrO₂@NC) consists of nitrogen-doped carbon (NC) and zirconium oxide (ZrO₂) loaded with cobalt nanoparticles was prepared. The porous NC component not only increases the accommodation of sulfur in the cathode, but also benefits the charge transfer in sulfur electrochemistry. The Co and ZrO₂would act as active centers to enhance the adsorption/conversion of lithium polysulfide and improve its electrochemical utilization. When used in sulfur cathode, the Co-ZrO₂@NC electrode shows excellent electrochemical performance with an initial specific capacity of 1073 mAh g^-1at a rate of 0.2 C and a reversible capacity of 1015 mAh g^-1after 100 cycles, corresponding to a capacity retention of 94.6%. Furthermore, after 300 cycles at 1.0 C, corresponding to a capacity retention of 75.4%. Moreover, the cell also exhibits good rate performance (640 mAh g^-1at 3.0 C). Even at high sulfur loading of 4.0 mg cm^-2, the S/Co-ZrO₂@NC cathode is able to deliver an areal specific capacity of 4.8 mAh cm^-2.

Keywords: ZrO2; catalysis; lithium–sulfur batteries; metal organic frameworks; sulfur host.