Single‐atomic Co‐B2N2 sites anchored on carbon nanotube arrays promote lithium polysulfide conversion in lithium–sulfur batteries
Zhifeng Wang,
Yajing Yan,
Yongguang Zhang,
Yanxu Chen,
Xianyun Peng,
Xin Wang,
Weimin Zhao,
Chunling Qin,
Qian Liu,
Xijun Liu,
Zhongwei Chen
Affiliations
Zhifeng Wang
Key Laboratory for New Type of Functional Materials in Hebei Province, School of Materials Science and Engineering Hebei University of Technology Tianjin China
Yajing Yan
Key Laboratory for New Type of Functional Materials in Hebei Province, School of Materials Science and Engineering Hebei University of Technology Tianjin China
Yongguang Zhang
Key Laboratory for New Type of Functional Materials in Hebei Province, School of Materials Science and Engineering Hebei University of Technology Tianjin China
Yanxu Chen
Key Laboratory for New Type of Functional Materials in Hebei Province, School of Materials Science and Engineering Hebei University of Technology Tianjin China
Xianyun Peng
Tianjin Key Lab for Photoelectric Materials & Devices, Institute for New Energy Materials & Low‐Carbon Technologies, School of Materials Science and Engineering Tianjin University of Technology Tianjin China
Xin Wang
South China Academy of Advanced Optoelectronics, International Academy of Optoelectronics at Zhaoqing South China Normal University Guangdong China
Weimin Zhao
Key Laboratory for New Type of Functional Materials in Hebei Province, School of Materials Science and Engineering Hebei University of Technology Tianjin China
Chunling Qin
Key Laboratory for New Type of Functional Materials in Hebei Province, School of Materials Science and Engineering Hebei University of Technology Tianjin China
Qian Liu
Institute for Advanced Study Chengdu University Chengdu Sichuan China
Xijun Liu
MOE Key Laboratory of New Processing Technology for Non‐Ferrous Metals and Materials, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Processing for Non‐Ferrous Metals and Featured Materials, School of Resource, Environments and Materials Guangxi University Nanning China
Zhongwei Chen
Department of Chemical Engineering University of Waterloo Waterloo Ontario Canada
Abstract Due to low cost, high capacity, and high energy density, lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries have attracted much attention; however, their cycling performance was largely limited by the poor redox kinetics and low sulfur utilization. Herein, predicted by density functional theory calculations, single‐atomic Co‐B2N2 site‐imbedded boron and nitrogen co‐doped carbon nanotubes (SA‐Co/BNC) were designed to accomplish high sulfur loading, fast kinetic, and long service period Li–S batteries. Experiments proved that Co‐B2N2 atomic sites can effectively catalyze lithium polysulfide conversion. Therefore, the electrodes delivered a specific capacity of 1106 mAh g−1 at 0.2 C after 100 cycles and exhibited an outstanding cycle performance over 1000 cycles at 1 C with a decay rate of 0.032% per cycle. Our study offers a new strategy to couple the combined effect of nanocarriers and single‐atomic catalysts in novel coordination environments for high‐performance Li–S batteries.
