Lithium−sulfur batteries are promising next-generation energy storage systems with high theoretical specific capacity. Despite extensive research efforts, it is still challenging to rationally design electrocatalysts with fast kinetics and effective adsorption of polysulfides. Herein, Fe-doped ReS 2 (Fe−ReS 2 ) ultrathin nanosheets are prepared as an electrocatalyst to trap the intermediates and accelerate the sulfur reduction reaction kinetics. Density functional theory calculations combined with activation energies in the multistep sulfur reduction reaction reveal that the Fe−ReS 2 considerably reduces the activation energy and optimizes the optimum adsorption strength of polysulfides and catalytic activity. The Fe−ReS 2 /S exhibits a highly reversible discharge capacity of 882.3 mA h g −1 at 1 C. For 500 cycles, the capacity fade rate is 0.013% per cycle. Moreover, in situ Raman spectroscopy measurements further confirmed that both sulfur reduction and oxidation processes were significantly enhanced by Fe−ReS 2 .
An ingenious design and a controllable architecture are critical for the construction of flexible electrodes. In this study, we realized the enriched nanorods on carbon cloth as templates by controlling the growth of metal−organic frameworks (MOFs) and finally formed hollow CoS 2 @MoS 2 nanotube arrays after postprocessing. The outer layer is staggered interconnected MoS 2 nanosheets with gaps between them, providing rich active points for electrochemical reaction. The hierarchical tubular structure and core−shell system significantly improves the electrical conductivity, promotes the diffusion of lithium ions, and has a good buffering effect on the volume change. Therefore, it exhibits an excellent lithium storage capacity with an areal specific capacity as high as 2.35 mAh cm −2 after 100 cycles at a current density of 0.5 mA cm −2 . Furthermore, it reaches 1.55 mAh cm −2 in the full-cell test at 5 mA cm −2 . At the same time, its strong flexibility enables stable capacity output in pouch cells. In this regard, our research provides an idea for the application of flexible devices.
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