@article{Qu2025, 
author = {Xiaoya Qu and Hailong Xie and Na Li and Peng Wang and Xiaoyan An and Wei Zhang and Zaowen Zhao and Xiaodong Shi},
title = {Energizing sulfur chemistry: Synergistic modulation of oxygen vacancies and heterointerface in MoO2–x-Mo2C@NC for long-lasting lithium-sulfur batteries},
year = {2025},
journal = {Nano Research Energy},
volume = {4},
pages = {e9120193},
keywords = {defect engineering, heterostructures, catalytic cathode materials, cycling stability, lithium-sulfur batteries},
url = {https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.26599/NRE.2025.9120193},
doi = {10.26599/NRE.2025.9120193},
abstract = {The practical deployment of lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries is impeded by severe polysulfide shuttle effects and sluggish redox kinetics. The use of heterostructures as catalysts in sulfur hosts is expected to improve the electrochemical performance of Li-S batteries. However, single heterostructures still suffer from the fatal problems of few active sites and high charge transfer barriers. Herein, defect-engineered MoO2–x-Mo2C@NC (NC is the abbreviation form of nitrogen-doped carbon) is designed as an efficient electrocatalyst to adjust the surface properties and electron distribution of the heterostructure by introducing a defective structure into the heterostructure, thereby enhance active site exposure. The d-orbitals of Mo2C facilitate strong interactions with the p-electrons of MoO2, enabling efficient electron transfer between reactants and active sites. DFT calculations confirm the interaction of the d orbitals of Mo2C with the p electrons in the MoO2 material, effectively lowering the reaction energy barrier. As a result, the S/MoO2–x-Mo2C@NC exhibits remarkable cycle stability, retaining a specific capacity of 714 mAh·g–1 after 500 cycles at 0.5 C. This work provides insights into defect-driven heterostructure design for advanced Li-S batteries.}
}