Integrating Polar and Conductive Fe₂O₃-Fe₃C Interface with Rapid Polysulfide Diffusion and Conversion for...

A low-cost in situ formed Fe₂O₃-Fe₃C heterostructure highly dispersed in carbon nanofiber was delicately designed via a facile one-pot electrospinning method. The intense anchoring (by Fe₂O₃) and rapid electron transfer (by Fe₃C) for lithium polysulfides transformation can be simultaneously achieved on the Fe₂O₃-Fe₃C heterostructure interface, thus preventing the amassment of lithium polysulfides benefiting from its excellent interfacial contact and improving sulfur utilization. Experimental characterizations and DFT calculations confirmed the restrained polysulfides shuttle and enhanced redox kinetics. Therefore, the battery containing optimal Fe₂O₃-Fe₃C heterostructure delivered a high capacity of 776.2 mA h g^-1 after 300 cycles at 1 C at a low fading rate of 0.037% per cycle. Even at a high sulfur loading of 3.5 and 4.5 mg cm^-2, high capacities of 773.6 and 533.6 mA h g^-1 at 0.5 C can be achieved with capacity retentions of 91.7 and 94.2%, respectively. This distinctive heterostructure proposes an effective design of high-performance lithium-sulfur batteries contributing to the excellent electrochemical performance, which can synergize the virtues of effectively adsorptive metal oxides and appealing conductive metal carbides.