Highly Efficient Organosulfur and Lithium-Metal Hosts Enabled by C@Fe3 N Sponge

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2023 Jan 16;62(3):e202216267. doi: 10.1002/anie.202216267. Epub 2022 Dec 7.

Abstract

Lithium-organosulfur (Li-OS) batteries, despite possessing high theoretical specific capacity, encounter a few practical challenges, including unsatisfactory lifespan and low active material utilization under realistic conditions. Here, diisoropyl xanthogen polysulfide (DIXPS) has been selected as a model organosulfur compound to investigate the practical feasibility of Li-OS batteries under realistic conditions. A well-designed freestanding carbon sponge decorated with Fe3 N nanoparticles (C@Fe3 N) is introduced into the Li-OS cells as a scaffold for both Li and DIXPS. The lithiophilic property of the C@Fe3 N host guides uniform lithium deposition at the anode, and the catalysis of the DIXPS conversion reaction promotes the kinetics at the cathode. Impressively, the synergistic effect of C@Fe3 N leads to an extremely stable cycling performance over 1 000 cycles in a Li-OS full cell under realistic conditions.

Keywords: Electrochemistry; Lithiophilic Host; Lithium-Organosulfur Batteries; Pouch Cells; Shuttling-Free Cathode.