Highly dispersed conductive and electrocatalytic mediators enabling rapid polysulfides conversion for lithium sulfur batteries

The practical application of Li-S batteries encounters hurdles in maintaining cycling durability and rate capability under realistic conditions. Electrostatic self-assembly stands as a captivating avenue for exploring new frontiers in nanoscale catalysis. Leveraging renewable bio-oil both as a carbon source and self-polymerization precursor, ultrafine Mo₂C nanocrystals anchored on bio-oil-derived 3D hierarchical carbon matrix (Mo₂C@BOC) are fabricated by a facile NaCl template-assisted electrostatic self-assembly and followed annealing procedure. Densely anchored ultrafine Mo₂C nanocrystals, intertwined with highly conductive carbon nanosheets, unveil an enhanced exposure of catalytically active sites for lithium polysulfide immobilization, conversion, and supply amply nucleation sites to mediate the fast precipitation of Li₂S₂/Li₂S. Attributed to these favorable features, Li-S cells based on the as-designed catalytic host attain satisfactory cyclability with a minimum capacity fading rate of 0.0144 % over 1000 cycles and excellent rate capability. Decent performance can be achieved even at a high sulfur loading of 8.0 mg cm⁻² and a low electrolyte-to-sulfur ratio of 3.5 µL mg⁻¹. This strategy for solving the shuttle effect under high sulfur loading provides a promising solution for the further development of high-performance Li-S batteries. This work provides a rational strategy for solving the shuttle effect under high sulfur loading and sheds light on the great potential of Mo₂C@BOC for developing more practical Li-S batteries. © 2023 Elsevier B.V.