Ni Anchored to Hydrogen-Substituted Graphdiyne for Lithium Sulfide Cathodes in Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.

Greenburg, Louisa C; Gao, Xin; Zhang, Pu; Zheng, Xueli; Wang, Jingyang; Vilá, Rafael A; Cui, Yi · Nano Lett · 2023

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries are promising candidates for next-generation energy storage systems due to their high theoretical energy density and the low cost of sulfur. However, slow conversion kinetics between the insulating S and lithium sulfide (Li<sub>2</sub>S) remains as a technical challenge. In this work, we report a catalyst featuring nickel (Ni) single atoms and clusters anchored to a porous hydrogen-substituted graphdiyne support (termed Ni@HGDY), which is incorporated in Li<sub>2</sub>S cathodes. The rapidly synthesized catalyst was found to enhance ionic and electronic conductivity, decrease the reaction overpotential, and promote more complete conversion between Li<sub>2</sub>S and sulfur. The addition of Ni@HGDY to commercial Li<sub>2</sub>S powder enabled a capacity of over 516 mAh g<sub>Li<sub>2</sub>S</sub><sup>-1</sup> at 1 C for over 125 cycles, whereas the control Li<sub>2</sub>S cathode managed to maintain just over 200 mAh g<sub>Li<sub>2</sub>S</sub><sup>-1</sup>. These findings highlight the efficacy of Ni as a metal catalyst and demonstrate the promise of HGDY in energy storage devices.