One-step growth of ultrathin CoSe2 nanobelts on N-doped MXene nanosheets for dendrite-inhibited and kinetic-accelerated lithium-sulfur chemistry

Chuanliang Wei; Zhengran Wang; Peng Wang; Xinlu Zhang; Xuguang An; Jinkui Feng; Baojuan Xi; Shenglin Xiong

doi:10.1016/j.scib.2024.03.043

One-step growth of ultrathin CoSe₂ nanobelts on N-doped MXene nanosheets for dendrite-inhibited and kinetic-accelerated lithium-sulfur chemistry

Sci Bull (Beijing). 2024 Mar 21:S2095-9273(24)00199-3. doi: 10.1016/j.scib.2024.03.043. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Chuanliang Wei¹, Zhengran Wang¹, Peng Wang¹, Xinlu Zhang¹, Xuguang An², Jinkui Feng³, Baojuan Xi¹, Shenglin Xiong⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China.
² School of Mechanical Engineering, Chengdu University, Chengdu 610106, China.
³ School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China. Electronic address: jinkui@sdu.edu.cn.
⁴ School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China. Electronic address: chexsl@sdu.edu.cn.

PMID: 38555262
DOI: 10.1016/j.scib.2024.03.043

Abstract

The practical application of lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries is inhibited by the shuttle effect of lithium polysulfides (LiPSs) and slow polysulfide redox kinetics on the S cathode as well as the uncontrollable growth of dendrites on the Li metal anode. Therefore, both cathode and anode sides must be considered when modifying Li-S batteries. Herein, two-dimensional (2D) ultrathin CoSe₂ nanobelts are in situ grown on 2D N-doped MXene nanosheets (CoSe₂@N-MXene) via one-step solvothermal process for the first time. Owing to its unique 2D/2D structure, CoSe₂@N-MXene can be processed to crumpled nanosheets by freeze-drying and flexible and freestanding films by vacuum filtration. These crumpled CoSe₂@N-MXene nanosheets with abundant active sites and inner spaces can act as S hosts to accelerate polysulfide redox kinetics and suppress the shuttle effect of LiPSs owing to their strong adsorption ability and catalytic conversion effect with LiPSs. Meanwhile, the CoSe₂@N-MXene film (CoSe₂@NMF) can act as a current collector to promote uniform Li deposition because it contains lithiophilic CoSe₂ and N sites. Under the systematic effect of CoSe₂@N-MXene on S cathode and Li metal anode, the electrochemical and safety performance of Li-S batteries are improved. CoSe₂@NMF also shows excellent storage performances in flexible energy storage devices.

Keywords: Flexible MXene-based films; In situ growth; Li–S batteries; N-doped MXene nanosheets; Ultrathin CoSe(2) nanobelts.