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Research Article

Rapid construction of highly-dispersed cobalt nanoclusters embedded in hollow cubic carbon walls as an effective polysulfide promoter in high-energy lithium-sulfur batteries

Lin Sun1,2, Yanxiu Liu1, Kaiqiang Zhang2, Feng Cheng1, Ruiyu Jiang1, Yangqing Liu1, Jing Zhu1, Zhong Jin2( ), Huan Pang3( )
Key Laboratory for Advanced Technology in Environmental Protection of Jiangsu Province, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yancheng Institute of Technology, Yancheng 224051, China
MOE Key Laboratory of Mesoscopic Chemistry, MOE Key Laboratory of High Performance Polymer Materials and Technology, Jiangsu Key laboratory of Advanced Organic Materials, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China
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Graphical Abstract

Efficient sulfur with highly dispersed Co nanoclusters embedded in hollow cubic carbon walls for Li-Sbatteries has been simply fabricated. Experiments combined with density functional theory (DFT)calculations demonstrated that both the well-dispersed Co nanoclusters and the unique structure playmomentous roles in promoting the absorption and conversion capability of polysulfides.

Abstract

The ultrahigh specific energy density and low cost of lithium-sulfur batteries are suitable for the next generation of energy storage. However, the shuttle issue and sluggish conversion kinetics of polysulfides remain unsolved. Confining metal nanoclusters with strong polarity in conductive porous carbon is an effective strategy for tackling such knotty issues. Herein, we design and synthesize hollow cubic carbon embedded with highly dispersed cobalt nanoclusters as an effective sulfur reservoir for lithium sulfur batteries. The large cavity structure and well-dispersed cobalt nanoclusters, with uniform sizes near 11 nm, enable the hosting structure to hold the high sulfur loading, 70% capacity retention after 500 cycles at 2 C with a high sulfur loading of 6.5 mg·cm−2, effective stress release, accelerated polysulfide conversion, superior rate performance, strong physical confinement and chemical absorption capability. Further density functional theoretical calculations demonstrate that the well-dispersed cobalt nanoclusters in the hosting structure play a critical electrocatalytic role in boosting the capability of absorbing and converting polysulfides.

Keywords

electrocatalysislithium-sulfur batteryshuttle effectCo nanoclusterhollow carbon

Electronic Supplementary Material

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Nano Research
Volume 15 Issue 6,
June 2022
Pages 5105-5113
DOI: 10.1007/s12274-022-4134-8
Cite this article:
Sun L, Liu Y, Zhang K, et al. Rapid construction of highly-dispersed cobalt nanoclusters embedded in hollow cubic carbon walls as an effective polysulfide promoter in high-energy lithium-sulfur batteries. Nano Research, 2022, 15(6): 5105-5113. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-4134-8
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Received: 12 October 2021
Revised: 02 January 2022
Accepted: 03 January 2022
Published: 15 March 2022
© Tsinghua University Press 2022
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