Ordered micro-mesoporous carbon nanopheres embedded with Ni/ Ni3ZnC0.7 heterostructure as an efficient cathode host for high-performance lithium-sulfur batteries

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries are deemed one of the most promising candidates for next-generation highenergy-density energy storage devices. However, the development of Li-S batteries currently suffers from several problems, such as poor conductivity of the positive electrode, poor capacity retention and sluggish reaction kinetics. Herein, ordered micro-mesoporous carbon (OMMC) noanospheres embedded with Ni/Ni3ZnC0.7 heterostructure as a novel cathode host material were synthesized and reported. Which can not only effectively improve the physical limitation and chemical adsorption of lithium polysulfides (LiPSs), but also greatly accelerate the electron transport to suppress the shuttling effect of LiPSs. As a result, the as-obtained S@Ni/ Ni3ZnC0.7@OMMC noanospheres (S@Ni/Ni3ZnC0.7@OMMC NSs) cathode exhibits outstanding initial capacities up to 1408 mAh/g at 0.1C. More significantly, an excellent cyclic stability of 847 mAh/g is realized after 500 cycles at 0.5C (low capacity decay rate of 0.051 % per cycle). This work provides a new insight to how design and develop advanced cathode hosts for high-performance Li-S batteries.