Ni2P/carbon nanotube nanocomposite as host material for high performance lithium-sulfur battery cathode

Compared with metal oxide-based lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries are considered to be one of the most promising next-generation energy storage systems because of their high specific capacity and energy density. However, due to the low conductivity of the electrode material, the shuttle effect, and the drastic volume change, the battery capacity decays quickly and the cycle life is poor. These problems hinder the commercialization of Li-S batteries. In this paper, a simple hydrothermal method is used to compound the catalytic Ni2P and carbon nanotubes with good conductivity as the host material for the cathode material of the lithium-sulfur battery. Ni2P can catalyze the conversion of multisulfide lithium, which can inhibit the shuttle effect of lithium polysulfide during charging and discharging and improve the kinetics of the oxidation reaction.