Issue 36, 2020

Integrating conductivity and active sites: Fe/Fe3C@GNC as an trapping-catalyst interlayer and dendrite-free lithium host for the lithium–sulfur cell with outstanding rate performance

Abstract

Lithium–sulfur batteries have attracted wide attention due to its extremely high theoretical energy density, but suffer from severe intermediate shuttle and sluggish reaction kinetics on the cathode along with rigorous dendrite growth on the anode. Herein, a highly graphitic N-doped carbon matrix implanted by dual-role Fe and Fe3C nanoparticles (Fe/Fe3C@GNC) is designed to simultaneously tackle challenges existing in both cathode and anode. On the cathode, a Fe/Fe3C@GNC interlayer guaranteed excellent rate capability even at 55 °C (442 mA h g−1 in 10C) featuring rapid Li+ diffusivity, low barrier of Li2S decomposition, and improved electron/ion conductivity. On the anode, a thin layer of Fe/Fe3C@GNC with lithiophilic surface as an ideal Li host effectively suppressed the Li dendrite growth and regulated Li plating/stripping, thus leading to outstanding cycling stability even at a high current density of 5 mA cm−2. On this basis, a brand-new Li–S full cell was constructed by simultaneously employing Fe/Fe3C@GNC as an interlayer sandwiched between the cathode and separator, as well as a lithium metal anode host. As a result, the as-prepared full cell demonstrates boosted performance of 598 mA h g−1 at 2C.

Graphical abstract: Integrating conductivity and active sites: Fe/Fe3C@GNC as an trapping-catalyst interlayer and dendrite-free lithium host for the lithium–sulfur cell with outstanding rate performance

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
14 Jul 2020
Accepted
28 Aug 2020
First published
28 Aug 2020

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2020,8, 18987-19000

Integrating conductivity and active sites: Fe/Fe3C@GNC as an trapping-catalyst interlayer and dendrite-free lithium host for the lithium–sulfur cell with outstanding rate performance

M. Zhang, Y. Guo, Y. Wei, B. Wang, Y. Zhang, H. Wu, X. Zhou, Y. Zhang and Q. Wang, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2020, 8, 18987 DOI: 10.1039/D0TA06862D

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements