Highly conductive VC embedded in carbon matrix as effective trapper and catalyst for Li–S batteries

Vanadium carbide embedded in a nitrogen-doped carbon matrix (VC@NCM) is synthesized as a 3D freestanding sulfur host. Owing to the high electrical conductivity (1.6 × 104 S cm-1) of VC and strong chemisorption and catalytic effect on sulfur species, Li-S batteries with VC@NCM deliver enhanced redox kinetics with ultralow capacity decay of 0.01% per cycle after 1000 cycles at 1C. This work identifies the effect of strong chemisorption and high electrical conductivity on high S utilization and cycle stability in Li-S batteries.