Suppressed shuttling effect of polysulfides using three-dimensional nickel hydroxide polyhedrons for advanced...

In this work, controlled-size hollow polyhedron assembled by crumpled nickel hydroxide (Ni(OH)₂) nanosheets from silicon dioxide (SiO₂)-covered zeolitic imidazole framework-67 (ZIF-67@SiO₂) is prepared via a template-sacrificed method. It is found that SiO₂ plays an essential role in keeping intact polyhedrons and suppressing particle growth. Benefiting from structural and compositional advantages, the Ni(OH)₂@S electrode exhibits high specific capacity, excellent rate performance, and stable cycle life at 1C with a small capacity decay of 0.067% per cycle. The Ni(OH)₂ hollow polyhedrons can accommodate the volume expansion to maintain the integrity of the electrode and suppress the shuttling effect of polysulfides via abundant hydroxyl groups. Hence, this strategy is beneficial to anticipate the material for large-scale applications.