Rational engineering yolk-shell In2S3@void@carbon hybrid as polysulfide-absorbable sulfur host for high-performance lithium-sulfur batteries.

Abstract

The slow redox kinetics and shuttling behavior of the intermediate lithium polysulfides constrain the further development of lithium-sulfur (Li-S) electrochemistry. A yolk-shell In2S3@void@carbon hybrid engineered to host the sulfur for Li-S batteries is prepared by using a multi-layered assembly method. The In2S3/electrolyte interface acted as powerful adsorption and activation sites for soluble polysulfides, which is demonstrated using density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Moreover, the carbon shell provides redundancy for volume-changes during the cycles. The results indicate that yolk-shell In2S3@S@C hybrid cathode shows good reversibility and rate capability, which preserves 563.6 mA h g-1 after 500 cycles at 0.5 C, indicating the potential for developing high-performance battery systems.