Electropolymerized Conjugated Microporous Nanoskin Regulating Polysulfide and Electrolyte for High-Energy Li-S Batteries

Abstract

A popular practice in Li-S battery research is to utilize highly nanostructured hosts and excessive electrolytes to enhance sulfur-specific capacities. However, from the perspective of commercialization, this is a less meaningful approach in the pursuit of high-energy Li-S batteries. Herein, we report the fabrication of a nanoskin composed of a conjugated microporous polymer by electropolymerization to create a closed system for a sulfur cathode. The nanoskin is ultrathin, conductive, continuous, and contains uniform micropores of approximately 0.8 nm. The nanoskin sealing prevents the shuttling of polysulfide species without using the absorption effect, enhances the utilization of electrolytes, and allows a fast transport of lithium ions. As a result, the Li-S batteries comprising the cathode with nanoskin exhibit superior stability (∼86% capacity retention) under lean electrolyte conditions and a prolonged lifetime (1000 cycles). At a low electrolyte/sulfur ratio of 4 μL mg-1, the designed cathode delivered a practical energy density of over 300 Wh kg-1 without using any sophisticated hosts.