Nanomaterials (Jan 2022)

Encapsulating Metal-Organic-Framework Derived Nanocages into a Microcapsule for Shuttle Effect-Suppressive Lithium-Sulfur Batteries

  • Jinyun Liu,
  • Yajun Zhu,
  • Junfei Cai,
  • Yan Zhong,
  • Tianli Han,
  • Zhonghua Chen,
  • Jinjin Li

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12020236
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 2
p. 236

Abstract

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Long-term stable secondary batteries are highly required. Here, we report a unique microcapsule encapsulated with metal organic frameworks (MOFs)-derived Co3O4 nanocages for a Li-S battery, which displays good lithium-storage properties. ZIF-67 dodecahedra are prepared at room temperature then converted to porous Co3O4 nanocages, which are infilled into microcapsules through a microfluidic technique. After loading sulfur, the Co3O4/S-infilled microcapsules are obtained, which display a specific capacity of 935 mAh g−1 after 200 cycles at 0.5C in Li-S batteries. A Coulombic efficiency of about 100% is achieved. The constructed Li-S battery possesses a high rate-performance during three rounds of cycling. Moreover, stable performance is verified under both high and low temperatures of 50 °C and −10 °C. Density functional theory calculations show that the Co3O4 dodecahedra display large binding energies with polysulfides, which are able to suppress shuttle effect of polysulfides and enable a stable electrochemical performance.

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