Single‐atomic tungsten‐doped Co3O4 nanosheets for enhanced electrochemical kinetics in lithium–sulfur batteries
Sangni Wang,
Riming Hu,
Ding Yuan,
Lei Zhang,
Chao Wu,
Tianyi Ma,
Wei Yan,
Rui Wang,
Liang Liu,
Xuchuan Jiang,
Hua Kun Liu,
Shi Xue Dou,
Yuhai Dou,
Jiantie Xu
Affiliations
Sangni Wang
National Engineering Laboratory for VOCs Pollution Control Technology and Equipment, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment, Pollution Control School of Environment and Energy South China University of Technology Guangzhou China
Riming Hu
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Institute for Smart Materials & Engineering University of Jinan Jinan China
Ding Yuan
Institute of Energy Materials Science University of Shanghai for Science and Technology Shanghai China
Lei Zhang
Institute for Superconducting and Electronic Materials University of Wollongong Wollongong Australia
Chao Wu
Institute for Superconducting and Electronic Materials University of Wollongong Wollongong Australia
Tianyi Ma
School of Science RMIT University Melbourne Victoria Australia
Wei Yan
State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering Donghua University Shanghai China
Rui Wang
National Engineering Laboratory for VOCs Pollution Control Technology and Equipment, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment, Pollution Control School of Environment and Energy South China University of Technology Guangzhou China
Liang Liu
National Engineering Laboratory for VOCs Pollution Control Technology and Equipment, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment, Pollution Control School of Environment and Energy South China University of Technology Guangzhou China
Xuchuan Jiang
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Institute for Smart Materials & Engineering University of Jinan Jinan China
Hua Kun Liu
Institute of Energy Materials Science University of Shanghai for Science and Technology Shanghai China
Shi Xue Dou
Institute of Energy Materials Science University of Shanghai for Science and Technology Shanghai China
Yuhai Dou
Shandong Institute of Advanced Technology Jinan China
Jiantie Xu
National Engineering Laboratory for VOCs Pollution Control Technology and Equipment, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment, Pollution Control School of Environment and Energy South China University of Technology Guangzhou China
Abstract The practical application of lithium–sulfur batteries (LSBs) is severely hindered by the undesirable shuttling of lithium polysulfides (LiPSs) and sluggish redox kinetics of sulfur species. Herein, a series of ultrathin single‐atomic tungsten‐doped Co3O4 (Wx‐Co3O4) nanosheets as catalytic additives in the sulfur cathode for LSBs are rationally designed and synthesized. Benefiting from the enhanced catalytic activity and optimized electronic structure by W doping, the Wx‐Co3O4 not only reduces the shuttling of LiPSs but also decreases the energy barrier of sulfur redox reactions of sulfur species, leading to accelerated electrode kinetic. As a result, LSB cathodes with the use of 5.0 wt% W0.02‐Co3O4 as the electrocatalyst show the high reversible capacities of 1217.0 and 558.6 mAh g−1 at 0.2 and 5.0 C, respectively, and maintain a high reversible capacity of 644.6 mAh g−1 at 1.0 C (1.0 C = 1675 mA g−1) after 500 cycles. With a high sulfur loading of 5.5 mg cm−2 and electrolyte–electrode ratio of 8 μLelectrolyte mgsulfur−1, the 5.0 wt% W0.02‐Co3O4‐based sulfur cathode also retains a high reversible areal capacity of 3.86 mAh cm−2 at 0.1 C after 50 cycles with an initial capacity retention of 84.7%.
