Electrospun CoSe@NC nanofiber membrane as an effective polysulfides adsorption-catalysis interlayer for Li-S batteries

• Published in: Chemical engineering journal (Lausanne, Switzerland : 1996) Switzerland : 1996), 2022-02, Vol.430, p.131911, Article 131911
• Main Authors: Jiang, Xiangli, Zhang, Shan, Zou, Bobo, Li, Guochun, Yang, Shiliu, Zhao, Yan, Lian, Jiabiao, Li, Huaming, Ji, Hongbing
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adsorption-catalysis; Electrospun; Interlayer; Lithium sulfur batteries; Nanofiber membrane
• ISSN: 1385-8947; 1873-3212
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2021.131911

[Display omitted] •CoSe@NC nanofiber membrane was synthesized by electrospinning and thermal annealing method.•CoSe nanoparticles have strong adsorption and catalytic capability for polysulfides.•Li-S battery with CoSe@NC nanofiber membrane as interlayer shows excellent electrochemical performance. Lithium sulfur (Li-S) batteries have attracted tremendous attention due to their low cost and high theoretical capacity. However, the serious polysulfides shuttle and slow redox reaction kinetics hinder their large-scale commercial applications. Various attempts have been made to solve the problems. Herein, a CoSe@NC nanofiber membrane was prepared by electrospinning method and used as independent functional interlayer for the Li-S batteries. The visualized adsorption experiments show that the CoSe@NC nanofiber exhibits strong adsorption capability for polysulfides; In addition, CoSe nanoparticles with strong catalytic activity can accelerate the conversion of polysulfides. The adsorption-catalysis synergy of CoSe@NC can therefore effectively enhance the rate performance and cycling stability of Li-S batteries. The cell assembled with CoSe@NC functional interlayer delivers a high initial reversible discharge capacity of 1317 mAh g−1 at 0.1 C rate. After 200 cycles at 1.0 C, the capacity decay rate is only 0.16% per cycle. This work provides a feasible way to promote the electrochemical performance of Li-S batteries