Sustainable Sulfur-Carbon Hybrids for Efficient Sulfur Redox Conversions in Nanoconfined Spaces

Nanoconfinement is a promising strategy in chemistry enabling increased reaction rates, enhanced selectivity, and stabilized reactive species. Sulfur's abundance and highly reversible two-electron transfer mechanism have fueled research on sulfur-based electrochemical energy storage. However, t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) p. e2407300
Main Authors:	Senokos, Evgeny, Au, Heather, Eren, Enis Oğuzhan, Horner, Tim, Song, Zihan, Tarakina, Nadezda V, Yılmaz, Elif Begüm, Vasileiadis, Alexandros, Zschiesche, Hannes, Antonietti, Markus, Giusto, Paolo
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Germany 13-10-2024
Subjects:	sodium‐sulfur reaction sulfur inverse vulcanisation nanoconfinement sustainable electrochemical energy storage
Online Access:	Get full text
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Summary:	Nanoconfinement is a promising strategy in chemistry enabling increased reaction rates, enhanced selectivity, and stabilized reactive species. Sulfur's abundance and highly reversible two-electron transfer mechanism have fueled research on sulfur-based electrochemical energy storage. However, the formation of soluble polysulfides, poor reaction kinetics, and low sulfur utilization are current bottlenecks for broader practical application. Herein, a novel strategy is proposed to confine sulfur species in a nanostructured hybrid sulfur-carbon material. A microporous sulfur-rich carbon is produced from sustainable natural precursors via inverse vulcanization and condensation. The material exhibits a unique structure with sulfur anchored to the conductive carbon matrix and physically confined in ultra-micropores. The structure promotes Na ion transport through micropores and electron transport through the carbon matrix, while effectively immobilizing sulfur species in the nanoconfined environment, fostering a quasi-solid-state redox reaction with sodium. This translates to ≈99% utilization of the 2e reduction of sulfur and the highest reported capacity for a room temperature Na S electrochemical system, with high rate capability, coulombic efficiency, and long-term stability. This study offers an innovative approach toward understanding the key physicochemical properties of sulfurcarbon nanohybrid materials, enabling the development of high-performance cathode materials for room-temperature Na-S batteries with efficient sulfur utilization.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	1613-6810 1613-6829 1613-6829
DOI:	10.1002/smll.202407300