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Wei Du, Yanshuang Meng, Dongming Qi, Jiawei Feng, Qiang Xiang, and Fuliang Zhu, Revealing the synergy of single-atom cobalt catalysts with hollow carbon spheres for enhanced lithium–sulfur battery performance, Int. J. Miner. Metall. Mater., (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12613-025-3143-5
Wei Du, Yanshuang Meng, Dongming Qi, Jiawei Feng, Qiang Xiang, and Fuliang Zhu, Revealing the synergy of single-atom cobalt catalysts with hollow carbon spheres for enhanced lithium–sulfur battery performance, Int. J. Miner. Metall. Mater., (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12613-025-3143-5
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揭示单原子钴催化剂与空心碳球的协同作用以提升锂硫电池性能

摘要: 锂硫(Li–S)电池的理论能量密度高达2600 Wh·kg−1,是未来先进储能系统极具吸引力的选择。然而,锂多硫化物(LiPSs)带来的缓慢转化动力学及穿梭效应等问题,严重阻碍了其实际应用。本文提出一种中空碳球负载钴单原子催化剂(Co–N–C)的新型合成方法,该方法以富含酰亚胺(–RC=N–)聚合物的物质为前驱体,通过热解配位反应制备而成。此合成策略不仅提升了对锂多硫化物的吸附能力与催化活性,显著削弱了穿梭效应,还使制得的Co–N–C具备优异导电性、丰富中空结构及高比表面积,从而高效捕获并限制锂多硫化物中间体的迁移。分散的钴单原子催化剂(Co SACs)锚定在高导电氮掺杂碳骨架上,形成对称的N配位活性位点(Co–N4),保障了锂多硫化物及Li2S2/Li2S固态产物的快速氧化还原动力学。以Co–N–C为载硫体的锂硫电池,在0.5 C放电倍率下展现出1146.6 mAh·g−1的优异放电容量,在2 C高放电倍率下仍保持良好性能;500次循环的容量衰减率每圈仅0.086%,体现出卓越的长循环稳定性。本研究揭示了钴单原子催化剂与中空碳球的协同效应在提升锂硫电池性能中的关键作用,为高活性单原子催化剂的构筑与制备提供了宝贵思路。将单原子催化剂嵌入中空碳结构中可显著提升锂多硫化物的催化转化效率,这一策略为优化下一代锂硫电池的电化学性能提供了重要参考。

 

Revealing the synergy of single-atom cobalt catalysts with hollow carbon spheres for enhanced lithium–sulfur battery performance

Abstract: Lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries boast a theoretical energy density as high as 2600 Wh·kg−1, positioning them as a highly attractive option for future advanced energy storage systems. Challenges such as slow transformation kinetics and shuttle effects associated with lithium polysulfides (LiPSs) have seriously hindered their practical applications. In this paper, we present a new method for the synthesis of hollow carbon-sphere-supported Co monatomic catalysts (Co–N–C). This new synthesis method achieves pyrolytic coordination using a precursor rich in imide (–RC=N–) polymers. This synthesis method not only improves the adsorbability and catalytic activity of LiPS but also significantly weakens the shuttle effect and generates Co–N–C with superior conductivity, abundant hollow structures, and a high specific surface area, thus efficiently capturing and restricting the movement of LiPS intermediates. The dispersed Co monoatomic catalysts (Co SACs) were anchored to a highly conductive nitrogen-doped carbon framework and exhibited symmetric N-coordination active sites (Co–N4) to ensure fast redox kinetics of LiPS and Li2S2/Li2S solid-state products. The lithium–sulfur battery with Co–N–C as the sulfur carrier showed excellent discharging capacity of 1146.6 mAh·g−1 at a discharge rate of 0.5 C and maintained excellent performance at a high discharge rate of 2 C. The capacity decay rate in 500 cycles was only 0.086% per cycle, reflecting excellent long-term cycle stability. This study highlights the key role of the synergistic effect between single-atom cobalt catalysts and hollow carbon spheres in enhancing the efficiency of lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries. It also provides valuable insights into the construction and fabrication of highly active monatomic catalysts. The catalytic conversion efficiency of lithium polysulfides is significantly enhanced when embedded in hollow carbon architectures, which serves as a critical strategy for optimizing the electrochemical behavior of next-generation Li–S batteries.

 

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