drastically superior specific energy density. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] However, the successful implementation of Li-S batteries is still hindered by many challenges. One of the largest problems facing the current Li-S battery is the rapid capacity decay and serious selfdischarge caused by the dissolution and migration of intermediate lithium polysulfides (LiPSs). [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] Significant efforts have been dedicated to the research of suitable approach to address polysulfide shuttling. As one of the strategies, inserting an interlayer between the separator and sulfur electrode is widely applied due to the minimal changes to existing applications. [16][17][18][19] Various materials such as metal oxides, sulfides, and metal-organic frameworks have been proposed as functional interlayer to trap LiPSs through chemisorption, and this strategy has been demonstrated to be effective to block the migration of polysulfide species. [20][21][22][23][24] The interlayer serves as both adsorbent and current collector, where polysulfides can be reduced to insoluble products. [25,26] While this helps block LiPSs and improve the sulfur utilization, the produced Li 2 S is hard to oxidize back to soluble LiPSs due to the intrinsically poor electrical and ionic conductivity. [27] The accumulation of Li 2 S not only leads to the loss of active materials but also passivates the interlayer and impairs the electrochemical performance because of the insufficient transport of Li ions especially for cathodes with high sulfur loading. [1,16,[27][28][29] There is thereby an urgent need but it is still a significant challenge to develop interlayers that can not only block LiPSs but also accelerate Li 2 S oxidation on interlayers.To achieve this, we propose several key factors to consider when developing a practical bifunctional interlayer: 1) the adsorption energies between interlayer and LiPSs/Li 2 S that provides a strong anchoring; 2) the Li ion diffusion barrier that ensures good Li ion mobility; 3) the electrical conductivity of interlayer materials that facilitates electron transport and electrochemical conversions. In this work, we introduce MoN as a suitable interlayer material for Li-S batteries. On the one hand, the surface Mo atoms with unoccupied orbitals act as Lewis acid sites, and thus, MoN can serve as a good adsorbent for LiPSs. [30,31] On the other hand, our theoretical calculation reveals an extremely low Li ion diffusion barrier on MoN Rational design of effective polysulfide barriers is highly important for highperformance lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries. A variety of adsorbents have been applied as interlayers to alleviate the shuttle effect. Nevertheless, the unsuccessful oxidation of Li 2 S on interlayers leads to loss of active materials and blocks Li ion transport. In this work, a MoN-based interlayer sandwiched between the C-S cathode and the separator is developed. Such an interlayer not only strongly binds lithium polysulfides via Mo-S bonding but also efficiently accelerates the decomposition of Li 2...

The employment of a multidentate salicylamide salen-like ligand, 2-hydroxy-N-(2-(2-hydroxybenzylidene)amino)ethyl)benzamide (H3L), in aid of NO3(-) anions under weak basic conditions in Zn(II)-Ln(III) chemistry (Ln = Eu, and Dy, ) led to the isolation of two novel butterfly heterometallic dodecanuclear clusters with six Ln(III) ions occupying the body position and six Zn(II) ions the outer wing-tip sites. All of them are fully characterized by elemental analysis, FT-IR spectroscopy, TG analysis, single-crystal X-ray diffraction, and X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) techniques. Luminescence studies indicate that exhibits dual emission, while exhibits a bright blue emission under visible light excitation. Furthermore, magnetic susceptibility studies carried out for indicate that the magnetic exchange between Dy(III) ions revealed ferromagnetic interactions with interesting slow relaxation of magnetization of the SMM behavior.

Controlling exposed crystal facets through crystal facet engineering is an efficient strategy for enhancing the catalytic activity of nanocrystalline catalysts. Herein, the active tin dioxide nano–octahedra enclosed by {332} crystal facets (SnO2 {332}) are synthesized on reduced graphene oxide and demonstrate powerful chemisorption and catalytic ability, accelerating the redox kinetics of sulfur species in lithium–sulfur chemistry. Attributed to abundant unsaturated–coordinated Sn sites on {332} crystal planes, SnO2 {332} has outstanding adsorption and catalytic properties. The material not only adsorbs and converts polysulfides efficiently, but also prominently lowers the decomposition energy barrier of Li2S. The batteries with these high active electrocatalysts exhibit excellent cycling stability with a low capacity attenuation of 0.021% every cycle during 2000 cycles at 2 C. Even with a sulfur loading of 8.12 mg cm−2, the batteries can still cycle stably and maintain a prominent areal capacity of 6.93 mAh cm−2 over 100 cycles. This research confirms that crystal facet engineering is a promising strategy to optimize the performance of catalysts, deepens the understanding of surface structure‐oriented electrocatalysis in Li–S chemistry, while aiding the rational design of advanced sulfur electrodes.

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