Suppressing shuttle effect of polysulfides by yttrium hydroxide nanoarchitecture for stable lithium‑sulfur batteries

Rechargeable lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries reveal promising prospect as high energy storage systems because of the extraordinary theoretical specific energy density. However, the shuttle effect and sluggish reaction kinetics of polysulfides hamper the commercialization applications of high energy density Li-S batteries. Herein, a novel and efficient sulfur host material of yttrium hydroxide (Y(OH)3) has rationally been achieved for Li–S batteries. Y(OH)3 host not only suppress shuttle effect of polysulfides by physical confinement and chemisorption, but also decline Li2S nucleation and deposition reaction barriers and expedite chemical reaction kinetics. Consequently, the prepared Y(OH)3/S cathodes achieve a high initial specific capacity of 1295 mAh g−1 at 0.1 C and improved cycling stability with a low capacity decay rate of 0.019% per cycle over 1000 cycles at 2.0 C. The enhanced performances confirm a potential host material for facilitating practical implementation of Li–S batteries.