Single-Atom Vanadium Catalyst Boosting Reaction Kinetics of Polysulfides in Na-S Batteries

The practical application of the room-temperature sodium-sulfur (RT Na-S) batteries is hindered by the insulated sulfur, the severe shuttle effect of sodium polysulfides, and insufficient polysulfide conversion. Herein, on the basis of first principles calculations, single-atom vanadium anchored on a 3D nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon matrix (denoted as 3D-PNCV) is designed and fabricated to enhance sulfur reactivity, and adsorption and catalytic conversion performance of sodium polysulfide. The 3D-PNCV host with abundant and active V sites, hierarchical porous structure, high electrical conductivity, and strong chemical adsorption/conversion ability of V-N bonding can immobilize the polysulfides and promote reversibly catalytic conversion of polysulfides toward Na₂ S. Therefore, as-fabricated RT Na-S batteries can achieve a high reversible capacity (445 mAh g^-1 over 800 cycles at 5 A g^-1 ) and excellent rate capability (224 mAh g^-1 at 10 A g^-1 ). The electrocatalysis mechanism of sodium polysulfides is further experimentally and theoretically revealed, which provides a new strategy to develop the highly stable RT Na-S batteries.

Challenge and Strategies in Room Temperature Sodium-Sulfur Batteries: A Comparison with Lithium-Sulfur Batteries

Metal-sulfur batteries exhibit great potential as next-generation rechargeable batteries due to the low sulfur cost and high theoretical energy density. Sodium-sulfur (Na-S) batteries present higher feasibility of long-term development than lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries in technoeconomic and geopolitical terms. Both lithium and sodium are alkali metal elements with body-centered cubic structures, leading to similar physical and chemical properties and exposing similar issues when employed as the anode in metal-sulfur batteries. Indeed, some inspiration for mechanism researches and strategies in Na-S systems comes from the more mature Li-S systems. However, the dissimilarities in microscopic characteristics determine that Na-S is not a direct Li-S analogue. Herein, the daunting challenges derived by the differences of fundamental characteristics in Na-S and Li-S systems are discussed. And the corresponding strategies in Na-S batteries are reviewed. Finally, general conclusions and perspectives toward the research direction are presented based on the dissimilarities between both systems. This review attempts to provide important insights to facilitate the assimilation of the available knowledge on Li-S systems for accelerating the development of Na-S batteries on the basis of their dissimilarities.

A High-Efficiency Mo2 C Electrocatalyst Promoting the Polysulfide Redox Kinetics for Na-S Batteries

Room-temperature sodium-sulfur (RT Na-S) batteries, as promising next-generation energy storage candidates, are drawing more and more attention due to the high energy density and abundant elements reserved in the earth. However, the native downsides of RT Na-S batteries (i.e., enormous volume changes, the polysulfide shuttle, and the insulation and low reactivity of S) impede their further application. To conquer these challenges, hierarchical porous hollow carbon polyhedrons embedded with uniform Mo₂ C nanoparticles are designed deliberately as the host for S. The micro- and mesoporous hollow carbon indeed dramatically enhances the reactivity of the S cathodes and accommodates the volume changes. Meanwhile, the highly conductive dispersed Mo₂ C has a strong chemical adsorption to polysulfides and catalyzes the transformation of polysulfides, which can effectively inhibit the dissolution of polysulfides and accelerate the reaction kinetics. Thus, the as-prepared S cathode can display a high reversible capacity (1098 mAh g^-1 at 0.2 A g^-1 after 120 cycles) and superior rate performance (483 mAh g^-1 at 10.0 A g^-1 ). This work provides a new method to boost the performance of RT Na-S batteries.

Continuous Carbon Channels Enable Full Na-Ion Accessibility for Superior Room-Temperature Na-S Batteries

Porous carbon has been widely used as an efficient host to encapsulate highly active molecular sulfur (S) in Li-S and Na-S batteries. However, for these sub-nanosized pores, it is a challenge to provide fully accessible sodium ions with unobstructed channels during cycling, particularly for high sulfur content. It is well recognized that solid interphase with full coverage over the designed architectures plays critical roles in promoting rapid charge transfer and stable conversion reactions in batteries, whereas constructing a high-ionic-conductivity solid interphase in the pores is very difficult. Herein, unique continuous carbonaceous pores are tailored, which can serve as multifunctional channels to encapsulate highly active S and provide fully accessible pathways for sodium ions. Solid sodium sulfide interphase layers are also realized in the channels, showing high Na-ion conductivity toward stabilizing the redox kinetics of the S cathode during charge/discharge processes. This systematically designed carbon-hosted sulfur cathode delivers superior cycling performance (420 mAh g^-1 at 2 A g^-1 after 2000 cycles), high capacity retention of ≈90% over 500 cycles at current density of 0.5 A g^-1 , and outstanding rate capability (470 mAh g^-1 at 5 A g^-1 ) for room-temperature sodium-sulfur batteries.

Heavily Tungsten-Doped Sodium Thioantimonate Solid-State Electrolytes with Exceptionally Low Activation Energy for Ionic Diffusion

A strategy for modifying the structure of solid-state electrolytes (SSEs) to reduce the cation diffusion activation energy is presented. Two heavily W-doped sodium thioantimonate SSEs, Na_2.895 W_0.3 Sb_0.7 S₄ and Na_2.7 W_0.3 Sb_0.7 S₄ are designed, both exhibiting exceptionally low activation energy and enhanced room temperature (RT) ionic conductivity; 0.09 eV, 24.2 mS/cm and 0.12 eV, 14.5 mS/cm. At -15 °C the Na_2.895 W_0.3 Sb_0.7 S₄ displays a total ionic conductivity of 5.5 mS/cm. The 30 % W content goes far beyond the 10-12 % reported in the prior studies, and results in novel pseudo-cubic or orthorhombic structures. Calculations reveal that these properties result from a combination of multiple diffusion mechanisms, including vacancy defects, strongly correlated modes and excessive Na-ions. An all-solid-state battery (ASSB) using Na_2.895 W_0.3 Sb_0.7 S₄ as the primary SSE and a sodium sulfide (Na₂ S) cathode achieves a reversible capacity of 400 mAh g^-1 .

Flower-Like Interlayer-Expanded MoS2- x Nanosheets Confined in Hollow Carbon Spheres with High-Efficiency Electrocatalysis Sites for Advanced Sodium-Sulfur Battery

The room-temperature sodium-sulfur (RT-Na/S) battery is one of the most promising technologies for low-cost energy storage. However, application of RT-Na/S batteries is currently impeded by severe shuttle effects and volume expansion that limits both energy density and cycling stability. Herein, first, the first-principal calculation is used to find that the introduction of sulfur vacancies in MoS₂ can effectively enhance polysulfide adsorption and catalytic ability as well as both the ion and electron conductivities. Then, unique MoS_{2- x} /C composite spheres are further designed and synthesized with flower-like few-layer and interlayer-enlarged MoS_{2- x} nanosheets space-confined in hollow carbon nanospheres by a "ship-in-a-bottle" strategy. With this novel design, the mass loading of S in the MoS_{2- x} /C composite can be reached to as high as 75 wt%. Owing to the synergetic effect of interlayer-expanded and few-layer MoS_{2- x} nanosheets and hollow carbon spheres matrix with high electronic/Na⁺ conductivity, the RT-Na/S batteries deliver highly stable cycle durability (capacity retention of 85.2% after 100 cycles at 0.1 A g^-1 ) and remarkable rate capability (415.7 mAh g^-1 at 2 A g^-1 ) along with high energy density. This design strategy of defect- and interlayer-engineering may find wide applications in synthesizing electrode materials for high-performance RT-Na/S batteries.

Metal-Organic Frameworks-Derived Nitrogen-Doped Porous Carbon Nanocubes with Embedded Co Nanoparticles as Efficient Sulfur Immobilizers for Room Temperature Sodium-Sulfur Batteries

Room temperature sodium-sulfur (RT Na-S) batteries are considered a promising candidate for energy-storage due to their high energy-density and low-cost. However, the shutting effect of polysulfides and sluggish kinetics of sulfur redox reactions still severely limit their practical implementation. Herein, a new type of 3D hierarchical porous carbonaceous nanocubes is reported as efficient sulfur hosts, composed of carbon nanotubes (CNT) and Co nanoparticles (NPs) uniformly embedded into a nitrogen-doped carbon matrix (NC). Because of the high specific surface area, large degree of graphitization, and the synergetic effects between Co NPs and N-doping, the as-designed CNTs/Co@NC electrodes not only significantly increase polysulfides immobilization, but also efficiently catalyze sulfur redox reactions, as confirmed by experimental results and DFT calculations. When tested in a RT Na-S battery, the S@CNTs/Co@NC-0.25 cathode demonstrates outstanding electrochemical performance, achieving high initial specific capacity of 1200.3 mAh g^-1 at 0.1 C, remarkable rate capability up to 5.0 C (474.2 mAh g^-1 ), and superior cyclic performance of 450.5 mAh g^-1 (292 mAh g^-1 ) after 400 cycles at 1.0 C (5.0 C). The integration of a 3D hierarchical porous architecture with well-dispersed Co NPs of an electro-catalyst provides valuable insights based on structure-adsorption-catalysis engineering for advanced RT Na-S batteries.

MXene-Based Materials for Electrochemical Sodium-Ion Storage

Advanced architecture and rational design of electrode materials for electrochemical sodium-ion storage are well developed by researchers worldwide. MXene-based materials are considered as one of the most potential electrode materials for sodium-ion-based devices, such as sodium-ion batteries (SIBs), sodium-sulfur batteries (SSBs), and sodium-ion capacitors (SICs), because of the excellent physicochemical characteristics of MXenes. Here, in this review, the recent research work and progress, both theoretical and experimental, on MXene-based materials including pure MXenes and MXene-based composites in application of SIBs, SSBs, and SICs are comprehensively summarized. The sodium storage mechanisms and the effective methods to enhance the electrochemical performance are also discussed. Finally, the current critical challenges and future research directions on the development of these MXene-based materials for electrochemical sodium-ion storage are presented.

Multiregion Janus-Featured Cobalt Phosphide-Cobalt Composite for Highly Reversible Room-Temperature Sodium-Sulfur Batteries

Electrode materials with high conductivity, strong chemisorption, and catalysis toward polysulfides are recognized as key factors for metal-sulfur batteries. Nevertheless, the construction of such functional material is a challenge for room-temperature sodium-sulfur (RT-Na/S) batteries. Herein, a multiregion Janus-featured CoP-Co structure obtained via sequential carbonization-oxidation-phosphidation of heteroseed zeolitic imidazolate frameworks is introduced. The structural virtues include a heterostructure existing in a CoP-Co structure and a conductive network of N-doped porous carbon nanotube hollow cages (NCNHCs), endowing it with superior conductivity in both the short- and long-range and strong polarity toward polysulfides. Thus, the S@CoP-Co/NCNHC cathode exhibits superior electrochemical performance (448 mAh g^-1 remained for 700 times cycling under 1 A g^-1) and an optimized redox mechanism in polysulfides conversion. Density functional theory calculations present that the CoP-Co structure optimizes bond structure and bandwidth, whereas the pure CoP is lower than the corresponding Fermi level, which could essentially benefit the adsorptive capability and charge transfer from the CoP-Co surface to Na₂S_x and therefore improve its affinity to polysulfides.

Self-Formed Electronic/Ionic Conductive Fe3 S4 @ S @ 0.9Na3 SbS4 ⋅0.1NaI Composite for High-Performance Room-Temperature All-Solid-State Sodium-Sulfur Battery

Fe₃ S₄  @ S @ 0.9Na₃ SbS₄ ⋅0.1NaI composite cathode is prepared through one-step wet-mechanochemical milling procedure. During milling process, ionic conduction pathway is self-formed in the composite due to the formation of 0.9Na₃ SbS₄ ⋅0.1NaI electrolyte without further annealing treatment. Meanwhile, the introduction of Fe₃ S₄ can increase the electronic conductivity of the composite cathode by one order of magnitude and nearly double enhance the ionic conductivities. Besides, the aggregation of sulfur is effectively suppressed in the obtained Fe₃ S₄  @ S @ 0.9Na₃ SbS₄ ⋅0.1NaI composite, which will enhance the contact between sulfur and 0.9Na₃ SbS₄ ⋅0.1NaI electrolyte, leading to a decreased interfacial resistance and improving the electrochemical kinetics of sulfur. Therefore, the resultant all-solid-state sodium-sulfur battery employing Fe₃ S₄  @ S @ 0.9Na₃ SbS₄ ⋅0.1NaI composite cathode shows discharge capacity of 808.7 mAh g^-1 based on Fe₃ S₄ @S and a normalized discharge capacity of 1040.5 mAh g^-1 for element S at 100 mA g^-1 for 30 cycles at room temperature. Moreover, the battery also exhibits excellent cycling stability with a reversible capacity of 410 mAh g^-1 at 500 mA g^-1 for 50 cycles, and superior rate capability with capacities of 952.4, 796.7, 513.7, and 445.6 mAh g^-1 at 50, 100, 200, and 500 mA g^-1 , respectively. This facile strategy for sulfur-based composite cathode is attractive for achieving room-temperature sodium-sulfur batteries with superior electrochemical performance.

Mesoporous Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Nanospheres as Sulfur Matrix and a Novel Chelate-Modified Separator for High-Performance Room-Temperature Na-S Batteries

Room-temperature sodium-sulfur (RT/Na-S) batteries are considered among the most promising next-generation energy storage and conversion systems because of the earth-abundant reserves of sodium and sulfur. These batteries also possess the advantages of high theoretical gravimetric capacity, high energy density, and low cost. Herein, highly uniform Fe³⁺ /polyacrylamide nanospheres (FPNs) are fabricated on a large-scale by a facile, low-cost approach. Subsequently, mesoporous nitrogen-doped carbon nanospheres (PNC-Ns), obtained by carbonizing FPNs, are applied as a sulfur matrix to improve the utilization of sulfur, enhance the overall conductivity of the cathode, and inhibit the shuttling of sodium polysulfides (SPSs). In addition, graphene and FPNs are simultaneously coated onto the side of the separator to form a FPNs-graphene-functionalized separator (FPNs-G/separator); here, the mesoporous FPNs effectively anchor and block the SPSs, while the large specific area graphene sheets eliminate the intrinsic mechanical brittleness of the FPNs and improve the overall conductivity of RT/Na-S batteries. When S/PNC-Ns as a cathode and FPNs-G/separator are assembled into an RT/Na-S battery, it delivers a high discharge capacity (639 mAh g^-1 at 0.1 C after 400 cycles), stable cycle life (396 mAh g^-1 at 0.5 C after 800 cycles), and good rate performance (228 mAh g^-1 at 2 C).

Electron-State Confinement of Polysulfides for Highly Stable Sodium-Sulfur Batteries

Confinement of polysulfides in sulfur cathodes is pivotal for eliminating the "shuttle effect" in metal-sulfur batteries, which represent promising solutions for large-scale and sustainable energy storage. However, mechanistic exploration and in-depth understanding for the confinement of polysulfides remain limited. Consequently, it is a critical challenge to achieve highly stable metal-sulfur batteries. Here, based on a 2D metal-organic framework (2D MOF), a new mechanism to realize effective confinement of polysulfides is proposed. A combination of in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction, electrochemical measurements, and theoretical computations reveal that the dynamic electron states of the Ni centers in the 2D MOF enable the interaction between polysulfides and the MOF in the discharge/charge process to be tuned, resulting in both strong adsorption and fast conversion kinetics of polysulfides. The resultant room-temperature sodium-sulfur batteries are amongst the most stable reported so far, thus demonstrating that the new mechanism opens a promising avenue for the development of high-performance metal-sulfur batteries.

A High-Kinetics Sulfur Cathode with a Highly Efficient Mechanism for Superior Room-Temperature Na-S Batteries

Applications of room-temperature-sodium sulfur (RT-Na/S) batteries are currently impeded by the insulating nature of sulfur, the slow redox kinetics of sulfur with sodium, and the dissolution and migration of sodium polysulfides. Herein, a novel micrometer-sized hierarchical S cathode supported by FeS₂ electrocatalyst, which is grown in situ in well-confined carbon nanocage assemblies, is presented. The hierarchical carbon matrix can provide multiple physical entrapment to polysulfides, and the FeS₂ nanograins exhibit a low Na-ion diffusion barrier, strong binding energy, and high affinity for sodium polysulfides. Their combination makes it an ideal sulfur host to immobilize the polysulfides and achieve reversible conversion of polysulfides toward Na₂ S. Importantly, the hierarchical S cathode is suitable for large-scale production via the inexpensive and green spray-drying method. The porous hierarchical S cathode offers a high sulfur content of 65.5 wt%, and can deliver high reversible capacity (524 mAh g^-1 over 300 cycles at 0.1 A g^-1 ) and outstanding rate capability (395 mAh g^-1 at 1 A g^-1 for 850 cycles), holding great promise for both scientific research and real application.

Sulfur and Its Role In Modern Materials Science

Although well-known and studied for centuries, sulfur continues to be at the center of an extensive array of scientific research topics. As one of the most abundant elements in the Universe, a major by-product of oil refinery processes, and as a common reaction site within biological systems, research involving sulfur is both broad in scope and incredibly important to our daily lives. Indeed, there has been renewed interest in sulfur-based reactions in just the past ten years. Sulfur research spans the spectrum of topics within the physical sciences including research on improving energy efficiency, environmentally friendly uses for oil refinery waste products, development of polymers with unique optical and mechanical properties, and materials produced for biological applications. This Review focuses on some of the latest exciting ways in which sulfur and sulfur-based reactions are being utilized to produce materials for application in energy, environmental, and other practical areas.

Ambient temperature sodium-sulfur batteries

Ambient- or room-temperature sodium-sulfur batteries (RT Na-S) are gaining much attention as a low-cost option for large-scale electrical energy storage applications. However, their adoption is hampered by severe challenges. This concept paper summarizes first the operating principles, history, recent progress, and challenges of RT Na-S battery technology, and then suggests future directions towards enhancing performance in order for it to be a viable technology.

A high-energy room-temperature sodium-sulfur battery

Employing small sulfur molecules as the active cathode component for room-temperature Na-S batteries, reveals a novel mechanism that is verified for the batteries' electrochemistry. The sulfur cathode enables a complete two-electron reaction to form Na2 S, bringing a tripled specific capacity and an increased specific energy compared with traditional high-temperature Na-S batteries. At the same time, it offers better cycling stability endowing the batteries with a longer lifespan.