Co single-atom catalyst on ordered macro-microporous structure as separator for Li-S battery

Wenhui Cao; Mengyu Liu; Kai Zhang; Shenghao Zhang; Caixia Li; Yonghong Wen; Qingliang Lv; Qin Wen; Lei Wang

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2025.01.074

Co single-atom catalyst on ordered macro-microporous structure as separator for Li-S battery

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2025 Jan 10;684(Pt 2):189-196. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2025.01.074. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Wenhui Cao¹, Mengyu Liu¹, Kai Zhang¹, Shenghao Zhang¹, Caixia Li², Yonghong Wen¹, Qingliang Lv³, Qin Wen⁴, Lei Wang⁵

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory Base of Eco-Chemical Engineering, International Science and Technology Cooperation Base of Eco-chemical Engineering and Green Manufacturing, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, College of Environment and Safety Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266042, P. R. China.
² State Key Laboratory Base of Eco-Chemical Engineering, International Science and Technology Cooperation Base of Eco-chemical Engineering and Green Manufacturing, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, College of Environment and Safety Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266042, P. R. China. Electronic address: [email protected].
³ State Key Laboratory Base of Eco-Chemical Engineering, International Science and Technology Cooperation Base of Eco-chemical Engineering and Green Manufacturing, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, College of Environment and Safety Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266042, P. R. China. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁴ Institute of Biomedical Engineering, College of Life Science, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, P. R. China. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁵ State Key Laboratory Base of Eco-Chemical Engineering, International Science and Technology Cooperation Base of Eco-chemical Engineering and Green Manufacturing, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, College of Environment and Safety Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266042, P. R. China. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 39826506
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2025.01.074

Abstract

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries have attracted significant attention due to their high theoretical energy density, low cost and environmental friendliness, which are considered one of the most promising candidates for next-generation energy storage devices. However, the sluggish kinetics associated with sulfur oxidation-reduction reactions and the detrimental shuttle effect caused by lithium polysulfides (LiPSs) significantly impacts the electrochemical performance of Li-S batteries. In this work, Co single-atom catalyst (Co_SAC-NC) on an ordered macro-microporous structure are designed, and the catalyst are coated onto 2325 separator. The ordered micro-microporous structure of Co_SAC-NC enhances the interaction with LiPSs and provide reservoir for LiPSs. Secondly, the highly exposed Co-N_x configuration active sites can effectively anchor LiPSs and promotes their rapid conversion. This work significantly improves the utilization efficiency of the cathode, resulting in an exceptionally low-capacity decay rate of just 0.043 % per cycle over 1000 cycles at 1 C.

Keywords: Lithium-sulfur batteries; Ordered structure; Shuttle effect; Single-atom catalysts.