Nanoscale transition metal catalysts anchored on perovskite oxide enabling enhanced kinetics of lithium polysulfide redox in lithium-sulfur batteries

Abstract

To obtain high-performance lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries, it is necessary to rationally design electrocatalytic materials that can promote efficient sulfur electrochemical reactions. Herein, the robust heterostructured material of nanoscale transition metal anchored on perovskite oxide was designed for efficient catalytic kinetics of the oxidation and reduction reactions of lithium polysulphide (LiPSs), and verified by density functional theory (DFT) calculations and experimental characterizations. Due to the strong interaction of nanoscale transition metals with LiPSs through chemical coupling, heterostructured materials (STO@M) (M = Fe, Ni, Cu) exhibit excellent catalytic activity for redox reactions of LiPSs. The bifunctional heterostructure material STO@Fe exhibits good rate performance and cycling stability as the cathode host, realizing a high-performance Li-S battery that can maintain stable cycling under rapid charge–discharge cycling. This study presents a novel approach to designing electrocatalytic materials for redox reactions of LiPSs, which promotes the development of fast charge–discharge Li-S batteries.