Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries are promising candidates for next-generation energy storage devices, while shuttle effect and Li dendrite growth severely obstruct the practical applications. Herein, well-dispersed Ni₂P electrocatalysts decorated hollow carbon spheres (Ni₂P-HCS) are constructed as high-efficiency bi-functional mediator for Li-S batteries. Benefiting from polar surface and high electrical conductivity, Ni₂P-HCS possesses strong interaction and efficient electrocatalysis toward polysulfides. Moreover, regulated Li deposition behavior is realized on lithiated Ni₂P-HCS surface ascribed to its lithiophilicity and as-formed mixed ion-electron conducting host composed of Li₃P and Ni. As a result, the assembled Li-S full cells with Ni₂P-HCS used as interlayer and Li host exhibit excellent rate capability (755.5 mAh g⁻¹ at 2 C) and long-term cycling stability (capacity fading rate of 0.05% per cycle at 1 C after 500 cycles). Importantly, high areal capacity (6.67 mAh cm⁻²) with high sulfur loading of 5.9 mg cm⁻² at low E/S ratio (6.8 μL mg⁻¹) is achieved. The loading coefficient and catalytic effectiveness value (CEV) are proposed to evaluate catalytic efficiency of electrocatalysts. This work exploits the potential of metal phosphides in concurrently solving challenges for S cathode and Li anode, and offers insight into developing high-efficiency electrocatalysts for advanced Li-S batteries.

锂硫（Li-S）电池是下一代储能设备的有希望的候选者，而穿梭效应和锂枝晶生长严重阻碍了实际应用。在此，良好分散的 Ni ₂ P 电催化剂装饰的空心碳球（Ni ₂ P-HCS）被构建为 Li-S 电池的高效双功能介质。得益于极性表面和高导电性，Ni ₂ P-HCS 对多硫化物具有强相互作用和高效电催化作用。此外，由于其亲锂性和由 Li ₃组成的混合离子-电子导电主体，在锂化的 Ni ₂ P-HCS 表面上实现了调节的锂沉积行为P和Ni。因此，组装的以 Ni ₂ P-HCS 作为中间层和 Li 主体的Li-S 全电池表现出优异的倍率性能（755.5 mAh g ^-1 at 2 C）和长期循环稳定性（容量衰减率为 0.05% 500 个循环后在 1°C 下每个循环）。重要的是，高面积容量（毫安6.67厘米^-2），用5.9毫克厘米高的硫负载^-2在低E / S比（6.8μL毫克^-1） 已完成。提出了负载系数和催化效率值（CEV）来评估电催化剂的催化效率。这项工作利用了金属磷化物在同时解决 S 正极和 Li 负极挑战方面的潜力，并为开发用于先进 Li-S 电池的高效电催化剂提供了见解。