Carbon Materials with Single/dual Atom Metal for Lithium-sulfur Batteries by Professor Feng Li

NTU MSE Seminar Hosted by Prof Li Shuzhou

Abstract

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries have garnered significant attention due to their high theoretical energy density and cost-effectiveness, positioning them as a promising alternative to state-of-the-art lithium-ion batteries. However, achieving practical reliability and commercial viability requires addressing key challenges, including the need for high areal sulfur loading, efficient sulfur utilization, and stable cycling performance. Carbon materials, such as carbon nanotubes, graphene, carbon fibers, and their hybrids, play a crucial role as hosts, current collectors, and interlayers due to their excellent conductivity and tunable pore structures. Furthermore, the development of single/dual atom catalysts introduces new possibilities by leveraging long-range interactions and entropy changes to regulate electronic states. These catalysts enhance the adsorption and electronic conductivity of sulfur species, resulting in stable cycling performance at 10C for high-loading sulfur cathodes. This study provides computational and experimental evidence that long-range interactions and entropy changes govern d- and π-electron states in multi-metal single atom catalysts. By integrating these catalysts with carbon-based materials, the fabricated electrodes demonstrate high areal sulfur loading, effective polysulfide trapping, and robust cycling stability. These findings offer novel insights into the fundamental mechanisms underlying polysulfide regulation and hold promise for advancing the commercialization of high-performance Li-S batteries. 

Biography


Professor Feng Li
Institute of Metal Research
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang

Dr. Feng Li is a professor at Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IMR, CAS). He received his Ph. D in materials science at IMR, CAS in 2001 supervised by Prof. Hui-Ming Cheng. He mainly works on energy materials and energy storage devices. He has published more 400 papers on peer-reviewed journals, such as Nature Energy, Nature Catalyst, Adv Mater, etc. with more 79000 citations and H-index about 120. He obtained the award of National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars by National Foundation of Science China, and Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate Analytics from 2016 to 2025.