Regulating adsorption ability toward polysulfides in a porous carbon/Cu₃P hybrid for an ultrastable high‐temperature lithium–sulfur battery

Abstract

Lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs) can work at high temperatures, but they suffer from poor cycle life stability due to the "shuttle effect" of polysulfides. In this study, pollen-derived porous carbon/cuprous phosphide (PC/Cu 3 P) hybrids were rationally synthesized using a one-step carbonization method using pollen as the source material, acting as the sulfur host for LSBs. In the hybrid, polar Cu 3 P can markedly inhibit the "shuttle effect" by regulating the adsorption ability toward polysulfides, as confirmed by theoretical calculations and experimental tests. As an example, the camellia pollen porous carbon (CPC)/Cu 3 P/S electrode shows a high capacity of 1205.6 mAh g −1 at 0.1 C, an ultralow capacity decay rate of 0.038% per cycle after 1000 cycles at 1 C, and a rather high initial Coulombic efficiency of 98.5%. The CPC/Cu 3 P LSBs can work well at high temperatures, having a high capacity of 545.9 mAh g −1 at 1 C even at 150°C. The strategy of the PC/Cu 3 P hybrid proposed in this study is expected to be an ideal cathode for ultrastable high-temperature LSBs. We believe that this strategy is universal and worthy of in-depth development for the next generation energy storage devices.

Theoretical calculation guided materials design and capture mechanism for Zn–Se batteries via heteroatom‐doped carbon

“…[ 27–33 ] Previous research identified that doped heteroatoms (B, N, and P) on carbon hosts could restrict the shuttle effect of polyselenides in Li/Na‐Se batteries with organic electrolytes. [ 34,35 ] However, the effect and mechanism of heteroatom‐doped carbon confining polyselenides were far from full recognition in Zn–Se batteries. Thus, exploring the effect and mechanism of doping heteroatoms (B, N, and P) on carbon hosts in polyselenide adsorption is of paramount importance for Zn–Se batteries with enhanced, long‐lasting performance.…”

Hetero MOF‐on‐MOF‐derived carbon nanotube interconnected nitrogen‐doped carbon‐encapsulated FeNi/FeF2 for efficient oxygen evolution reaction

“…As a result, the practical application of water electrolysis is severely restricted by the OER process, and highly efficient catalyst materials are desired. [10][11][12] Limited by the high cost and rareness of noble metals, attention has been focused on 3d-transition metal-based non-noble materials like phosphides, [13][14][15] sulfides, 16,17 and selenides. 18 While these catalysts have a delayed reaction in the active phase of high-valence-state metal species formation, increasing the polarity would be useful to overcome the thermodynamic uphill process of O-H bond cleavage and O-O bond formation.…”

Synthesis of the Ni2P–Co Mott–Schottky Junction as an Electrocatalyst to Boost Sulfur Conversion Kinetics and Application in Separator Modification in Li-S Batteries

“…Recently, a large amount of efforts have been made to synthesize new separator modifying materials, such as heteroatom-doped carbon materials, , metal carbides, metal oxides, spinels, and perovskites, which can interact strongly with polysulfides. Transition-metal phosphides, such as Ni 2 P, FeP, Cu 3 P, and NiCoP, have attracted academic attention due to their good electrochemical stability, low charge–discharge polarization voltage, and strong polarity. It has been reported that Ni 2 P is a very promising material due to low decomposition energy barriers of Li 2 S and strong interactions with polysulfides .…”