A NiCo oxide/NiCo sulfate hollow nanowire-coated separator: a versatile strategy for polysulfide trapping and catalytic conversion in high-performance lithium-sulfur batteries†

Abstract

Lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs) are highly anticipated due to their remarkable theoretical specific energy and energy density. Nevertheless, the polysulfide shuttle effect severely curtails their cycle life, posing a significant obstacle to commercialization. Herein, we introduce nickel-cobalt oxide/nickel-cobalt sulfate hollow nanowires (NCO/NCSO-HNWs) as a separator modification material. The ingeniously designed hollow nanostructure of NCO/NCSO-HNWs endows it with a profusion of adsorption and catalytic active sites. This unique feature enables it to not only physically adsorb lithium polysulfides (LiPSs) but also catalytically convert them, thereby remarkably enhancing the anchoring and conversion efficiency of LiPSs. The LSBs equipped with NCO/NCSO-HNWs-modified separators exhibit an outstanding initial capacity of 1260 mA h g⁻¹ at 0.2C. Even after 100 cycles, a high capacity of 956 mA h g⁻¹ is retained, corresponding to an impressive retention rate of 75.9%. Notably, at 1C, after enduring 500 cycles, the discharge capacity still stabilizes at 695 mA h g⁻¹. The utilization of such hollow nanowire-based separator modification materials represents a novel and effective strategy for elevating the performance of LSBs, holding substantial promise for surmounting the challenges associated with the shuttle effect and expediting the commercialization journey of LSBs.