Local Lattice Distortion Activate Metastable Metal Sulfide as Catalyst with Stable Full Discharge-Charge Capability for Li-O<sub>2</sub> Batteries.

Zhang, Sanpei; Huang, Zhennan; Wen, Zhaoyin; Zhang, Linlin; Jin, Jun; Shahbazian-Yassar, Reza; Yang, Jianhua · Nano Lett · 2017

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

The direct lattice strain, either distortion, compressive, or tensile, can efficiently alter the intrinsic electrocatalytic property of the catalysts. In this work, we report a novel and effective strategy to distort the lattice structure by constructing a metastable MoSSe solid solution and thus, tune its catalytic activity for the Li-O<sub>2</sub> batteries. The lattice distortion structure with inequivalent interplanar spacing between the same crystals plane were directly observed in individual MoSSe nanosheets with transmission electron microscopy and aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy. In addition, in situ transmission electron microscopy analysis revealed the fast Li<sup>+</sup> diffusion across the whole metastable structure. As expected, when evaluated as oxygen electrode for deep-cycle Li-O<sub>2</sub> batteries, the metastable MoSSe solid solution deliver a high specific capacity of ∼730 mA h g<sup>-1</sup> with stable discharge-charge overpotentials (0.17/0.49 V) over 30 cycles.