Vanadium as Auxiliary for Fe–V Dual-Atom Electrocatalyst in Lithium–Sulfur Batteries: “3D in 2D” Morphology Inducer and Coordination Structure Regulator

The undesirable shuttling behavior, the sluggish redox kinetics of liquid-solid transformation, and the large energy barrier for decomposition of Li₂S have been the recognized problems impeding the practical application of lithium-sulfur batteries. Herein, inspired by the spectacular catalytic activity of the Fe/V center in bioenzyme for nitrogen/sulfur fixation, we design an integrated electrocatalyst comprising N-bridged Fe-V dual-atom active sites (Fe/V-N₇) dispersed on ingenious "3D in 2D" carbon nanosheets (denoted as DAC), in which vanadium induces the laminar structure and regulates the coordination configuration of active centers simultaneously, realizing the redistribution of the 3d-orbital electrons of Fe centers. The high coupling/conjunction between Fe/V 3d electrons and S 2p electrons shows strong affinity and enhanced reactivity of DAC-Li₂S_n (1 ≤ n ≤ 8) systems. Thus, DAC presents strengthened chemisorption ability toward polysulfides and significantly boosts bidirectional sulfur redox reaction kinetics, which have been evidenced theoretically and experimentally. Besides, the well-designed "3D in 2D" morphology of DAC enables uniform sulfur distribution, facilitated electron transfer, and abundant active sites exposure. Therefore, the assembled Li-S cells present outstanding cycling stability (637.3 mAh g^-1 after 1000 cycles at 1 C) and high rate capability (711 mAh g^-1 at 4 C) under high sulfur content (70 wt %).