Scalable Ni 12 P 5 -Coated Carbon Cloth Cathode for Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

As a better alternative to lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), lithium–sulfur batteries (LSBs) stand out because of their multi-electron redox reactions and high theoretical specific capacity (1675 mA h g −1 ). However, the long-term stability of LSBs and their commercialization are significantly compromised by the inherently irreversible transition of soluble lithium polysulfides (LiPS) into solid short-chain S species (Li 2 S 2 and Li 2 S) and the resulting substantial density change in S. To address these issues, we used activated carbon cloth (ACC) coated with Ni 12 P 5 as a porous, conductive, and scalable sulfur host material for LSBs. ACC has the benefit of high electrical conductivity, high surface area, and a three-dimensional (3D) porous architecture, allowing for ion transport channels and void spaces for the volume expansion of S upon lithiation. Ni 12 P 5 accelerates the breakdown of Li 2 S to increase the efficiency of active materials and trap soluble polysulfides. The highly effective Ni 12 P 5 electrocatalyst supported on ACC drastically reduced the severity of the LiPS shuttle, affected the abundance of adsorption–diffusion–conversion interfaces, and demonstrated outstanding performance. Our cells achieved near theoretical capacity (>1611 mA h g −1 ) during initial cycling and superior capacity retention (87%) for >250 cycles following stabilization with a 0.05% decay rate per cycle at 0.2 C.