The demand for efficient energy storage systems is ever increasing, especially due to the recent emergence of intermittent renewable energy and the adoption of electric vehicles. In this regard, lithium–sulfur batteries (LSBs), which can store three to five times more energy than traditional lithium-ion batteries, have emerged as a promising solution.
LSBs use lithium as the anode and sulfur as the cathode, but this combination poses challenges. One significant issue is the "shuttle effect," in which intermediate lithium polysulfide (LiPS) species formed during cycling migrate between the anode and cathode, resulting in capacity fading, low life cycle, and poor rate performance.
Other problems include the expansion of the sulfur cathode during lithium-ion absorption and the formation of insulating lithium–sulfur species and lithium dendrites during battery operation. While various strategies, such as cathode composites, electrolyte additives, and solid-state electrolytes, have been employed to address these challenges, they involve trade-offs and considerations that limit further development of LSBs.
Recently, atomically precise metal nanoclusters, aggregates of metal atoms ranging from 1–3 nanometers in size, have received considerable attention in materials research, including on LSBs, owing to their high designability as well as unique geometric and electronic structures.
However, while many suitable applications for metal nanoclusters have been suggested, there are still no examples of their practical applications.
Now, in their latest collaborative study published in the journal Small, a team of researchers from Japan and China, led by Professor Yuichi Negishi of Tokyo University of Science (TUS), has harnessed the surface binding property and redox activity of platinum (Pt)-doped gold (Au) nanoclusters, Au24Pt(PET)18 (PET: phenylethanethiolate, SCH2CH2Ph), as a high-efficiency electrocatalyst in LSBs.
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