Oxygen-Doped MoS₂ with Expanded Interlayer Spacing for Rapid and Stable Polysulfide Conversion

Lithium-sulfur batteries face challenges such as the polysulfide shuttle effect and sluggish redox kinetics, leading to poor sulfur utilization and limited cyclic stability. Herein, an oxygen-doped engineering approach is presented to achieve pillar-free interlayer extension of MoS₂ (E-MoS₂) for lithium polysulfide conversion. E-MoS₂ features expanded interlayer spacing (from 0.63 to 0.95 nm), improved conductivity, and an optimized Mo d band center, which collectively enhances polysulfide conversion efficiency. Consequently, cathodes with E-MoS₂ deliver a capacity of 638 mAh g^-1 after 600 cycles at 2 C (0.046% decay/cycle) and an areal capacity of 12.0 mAh cm^-2 under practical conditions (12 mg cm^-2 S loading, E/S = 4 µL mg^-1). This work highlights interlayer engineering as a key strategy for optimizing MoS₂ catalysts in conversion-type batteries.