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Lithiated metallic molybdenum disulfide nanosheets for high-performance lithium–sulfur batteries

Nature Energy volume 8, pages 84–93 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

Batteries based on redox chemistries that can store more energy than state-of-the-art lithium-ion systems will play an important role in enabling the energy transition to net zero carbon emissions. Lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries have shown extraordinary promise, where the electrically insulating sulfur must be loaded onto a conducting host. Here we report the use of pre-lithiated metallic 1T phase two-dimensional (2D) molybdenum disulfide (LixMoS2) as a sulfur host material for high-performance Li–S batteries under lean electrolyte conditions. The lithiation of conductive and lyophilic 1T phase MoS2 nanosheets leads to improved adsorption of lithium polysulfides, enhanced Li+ transport, accelerated electrochemical reaction kinetics and superior electrocatalytic activity for polysulfide conversion. These attributes enable pouch cell batteries to deliver energy density of 441 Wh kg−1 and 735 Wh l−1, together with capacity retention of 85.2% after 200 cycles. Our results provide insights into the design of practical Li–S cathodes based on electrocatalytically active and conducting 2D materials.

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Fig. 1: Morphologies and properties of LixMoS2.
Fig. 2: Electrochemical characterization of different MoS2-based cathodes in Li–S coin cells.
Fig. 3: LiPS adsorption, Li+ transport and electrochemical reaction kinetics of different MoS2-based cathodes.
Fig. 4: Electrocatalytic sulfur reduction reaction study of different MoS2 hosts in Li2S4 solution using rotating disk electrode system.
Fig. 5: Performance of LixMoS2-based Li–S pouch cells.

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All data supporting the findings of this study are available within the paper and Supplementary Information files. Source data are provided with this paper.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Faraday Institution LiSTAR programme and characterization project (EP/S003053/1, FIRG014 and FIRG012) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) (EP/T001038/1, EP/L016087/1).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Zhuangnan Li, Ismail Sami, Jieun Yang, Ramachandran Vasant Kumar & Manish Chhowalla

  2. The Faraday Institution, Harwell Campus, Didcot, UK

    Zhuangnan Li, Juntao Li, Ramachandran Vasant Kumar & Manish Chhowalla

  3. Cambridge Graphene Centre, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Ismail Sami

  4. Department of Chemistry and Research Institute of Basic Sciences, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Jieun Yang

  5. Department of Chemistry, University College London, London, UK

    Juntao Li

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Contributions

M.C. conceived and designed the research; Z.L., I.S., J.Y. and J.L. performed the experiments and the characterization of the materials; Z.L. and M.C. analysed the data and M.C. wrote the manuscript with input from Z.L. All the authors commented on the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Jieun Yang or Manish Chhowalla.

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Nature Energy thanks Wonbong Choi and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Li, Z., Sami, I., Yang, J. et al. Lithiated metallic molybdenum disulfide nanosheets for high-performance lithium–sulfur batteries. Nat Energy 8, 84–93 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-022-01175-7

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