Conductive and Catalytic VTe₂@MgO Heterostructure as Effective Polysulfide Promotor for Lithium-Sulfur Batteries

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries are recognized as one of the most promising energy storage systems due to the high energy density and cost effectiveness. However, their practical implementation has still been handicapped due to notorious lithium polysulfide (LiPS) shuttle and depressed sulfur redox kinetics. It is therefore desirable to exploit key mediators synergizing electrical conductivity and electrocatalytic activity for the cathode. Herein, we report the employment of atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition to harness the efficient and controllable synthesis of metallic VTe₂ over particulated MgO substrates, which has scarcely been demonstrated by conventional wet-chemical synthetic routes thus far. The thus-derived VTe₂@MgO heterostructure as an efficient promotor enables effective regulation of LiPSs with respect to polysulfide capture/conversion and Li₂S decomposition. As a result, a S/VTe₂@MgO cathode with a sulfur loading of 1.6 mg cm^-2 harvests long-term cyclability with a negligible capacity decay of 0.055% per cycle over 1000 cycles at 1.0 C. Even at a sulfur loading of 6.9 mg cm^-2, the cathode still delivers electrochemical performances that can rival the state-of-the-art high-loading counterparts. Our work might offer a feasible solution for developing heterostructured promotors with multifunctionality and electrocatalytic activity for high-performance Li-S batteries.