TY - JOUR

T1 - Surface engineering-induced highly dispersed and polycrystalline structured nickel phosphide nano catalysts for lithium-sulfur batteries

AU - Wu, Haoteng

AU - Wu, Haiwei

AU - Ren, Xuan

AU - Li, Ruihua

AU - Wang, Huan

AU - Jia, Wenhao

AU - Lin, Zhihua

AU - Liu, Hanbin

AU - Xiong, Chuanyin

AU - Zhang, Lin

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2025 Elsevier Ltd

PY - 2025/5/1

Y1 - 2025/5/1

N2 - The shuttle effect and sluggish sulfur redox kinetics are the primary factors that influence the cycle life of lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries. Therefore, investigating electrocatalysts with a large number of active sites and high activity to improve the conversion kinetics of soluble lithium polysulfides (LiPS) is quite critical to solve these problems. In this study, surface engineering induced highly dispersible and polycrystalline structured catalyst of phosphatized nickel oxides (NiOPs) was prepared using bacterial cellulose (BNF) as a carrier and followed by partial phosphorization. Specifically, the as optimized nano NiOP-1 h (phosphating for 1 h) catalyst show an abundant polycrystalline structure of Ni2P/Ni5P4 and also appropriate interaction with LiPS, which helps it greatly overperform the pristine NiO, N2P and other partially phosphorized NiOP for enhancing the sulfur redox. The Li-S cells with paper-based NiOP-1 h electrodes can achieve a maximum capacity of 3.4 mAh cm−2 at 0.15C, even with sulfur loading of 4 mg cm−2 and lean electrolyte of 6.7 µL mg−1. This method demonstrates the potential for preparing electrocatalysts characterized by high dispersibility and abundant active sites, offering applications in various other domains.

AB - The shuttle effect and sluggish sulfur redox kinetics are the primary factors that influence the cycle life of lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries. Therefore, investigating electrocatalysts with a large number of active sites and high activity to improve the conversion kinetics of soluble lithium polysulfides (LiPS) is quite critical to solve these problems. In this study, surface engineering induced highly dispersible and polycrystalline structured catalyst of phosphatized nickel oxides (NiOPs) was prepared using bacterial cellulose (BNF) as a carrier and followed by partial phosphorization. Specifically, the as optimized nano NiOP-1 h (phosphating for 1 h) catalyst show an abundant polycrystalline structure of Ni2P/Ni5P4 and also appropriate interaction with LiPS, which helps it greatly overperform the pristine NiO, N2P and other partially phosphorized NiOP for enhancing the sulfur redox. The Li-S cells with paper-based NiOP-1 h electrodes can achieve a maximum capacity of 3.4 mAh cm−2 at 0.15C, even with sulfur loading of 4 mg cm−2 and lean electrolyte of 6.7 µL mg−1. This method demonstrates the potential for preparing electrocatalysts characterized by high dispersibility and abundant active sites, offering applications in various other domains.

KW - Lithium-sulfur batteries

KW - Nickel phosphide

KW - Paper-based electrode

KW - Phosphorization

KW - Polycrystalline

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85218415361&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.electacta.2025.145892

DO - 10.1016/j.electacta.2025.145892

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85218415361

VL - 521

JO - Electrochimica acta

JF - Electrochimica acta

SN - 0013-4686

M1 - 145892

ER -