Bimetallic NiCo@C with a Hollow Sea Urchin Structure Enables Li–S Batteries to Hasten the Reaction Kinetics and Effectively Inhibit the Shuttling of Polysulfides

The "shuttle effect" and several issues related to it are seen as "obstacles" to the study and development of lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs). This work aims at finding how to fully expose bimetallic sites and quicken the battery reaction kinetics. Here, a bimetallic NiCo-MOF and its derivative NiCo@C with a hollow sea urchin structure are produced. The obtained NiCo@C possesses a micromesoporous structure and fully disclosed bimetallic active sites because of its distinctive structure. The experimental findings demonstrate that fully exposed bimetallic active sites take on chemical adsorbents and collaborate with micromesopores as physical constraints to effectively suppress the "shuttle effect". Furthermore, the hollow sea urchin structure of NiCo@C enables a highly conductive grid, which provides channels to facilitate the movement of solvated Li