Decelerating and Accelerating Sulfur Reduction Reaction via P-O_V-In₂O₃ Enables High-Performance Li-S Batteries

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Catalysis

Background:

• Sluggish sulfur reduction reaction (SRR) kinetics hinder lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery development.
• The high activation energy for liquid-to-solid conversion in SRR causes polysulfide accumulation and shuttle effects.
• Selective catalysts are crucial for optimizing SRR and improving Li-S battery performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and synthesize a selective catalyst for Li-S batteries.
• To address the challenges of sluggish SRR kinetics and polysulfide shuttle effects.
• To improve the overall performance of Li-S batteries through catalyst modification.

Main Methods:

• Theoretical calculations guided the design of indium oxide catalysts.
• Synthesis of phosphorus-doped indium oxide nanospheres with oxygen vacancies (P-O_V-In₂O₃ NSs).
• Modification of separators with P-O_V-In₂O₃ NSs for Li-S battery testing.

Main Results:

• P-O_V-In₂O₃ NSs demonstrated selective catalytic properties for SRR.
• Batteries with modified separators showed excellent sulfur utilization and rate performance (656 mAh g^-1 at 5.0 C).
• Achieved a low capacity decay rate of 0.069% per cycle over 500 cycles at 1.0 C.

Conclusions:

• P-O_V-In₂O₃ NSs effectively mitigate sluggish SRR kinetics in Li-S batteries.
• The catalyst enhances electrochemical performance by improving sulfur utilization and cycle stability.
• This work provides a promising strategy for developing high-performance Li-S batteries.