Ni@O-doped carbon Mott-Schottky heterojunctions to enhance sulfur conversion kinetics

The practical application of lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs) is hindered by the sluggish redox kinetics of poly-sulfides. The authors propose that a Ni@OC Mott-Schottky heterojunction catalytically accelerates sulfur con-version reactions. The experimental results reveal that benefitting from a self-generated built-in electric field, the charge redistribution at the Ni@OC heterointerface accelerates electron transfer and enhances catalytic activity contributing to the conversion kinetics of polysulfides. Therefore, the cells assembled with Ni@OC hetero-junction display an excellent rate performance (the capacity 640.4 mAh center dot g  1 at 3 C) and a high capacity of 1026.6 mAh center dot g  1 under the lean electrolyte (E/S = 5.0 mu L center dot mg  1) conditions. The proposed Mott-Schottky het-erostructure provides a favorable reference and advanced guidance for high-capacity lithium-sulfur batteries.

Automated summary

In this study, the authors propose a method to accelerate the reaction of polysulfides in lithium-sulfur batteries using a Ni@OC Mott-Schottky heterojunction as a catalyst. The experimental results demonstrate that the charge redistribution at the Ni@OC interface accelerates electron transfer and enhances catalytic activity, leading to improved reaction kinetics and battery performance.