Artificial Lithium Isopropyl-Sulfide Macromolecules as an Ion-Selective Interface for Long-Life Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

The persistent reduction reactions between the hyperactive lithium metal (Li) and dissolved polysulfides would passivate the Li metal and rapidly decrease the cathodic active materials, thus leading to low Coulombic efficiency and a short cycle life of lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries. Herein, we construct artificial lithium isopropyl-sulfide macromolecules as an ion-selective interface on the Li metal (IS-Li) by a facile electrochemical polymerization method, in which the polymer network improves the elasticity and toughness to accommodate the volume change of the Li anode and the formed lithium-organosulfides provide great mechanical strength to resist the destruction of Li dendrites. Importantly, this interfacial layer is proved to be sufficient in damping polysulfide anion diffusion and stopping irreversible reduction between polysulfides and metallic Li, which greatly contribute to the performance improvement of Li–S batteries. The resulting Li–S batteries exhibit long-term stability with high capacity retention and Coulombic efficiency. This effective strategy sets a new approach for regulating the interfacial chemistry of Li metal anodes, which is significant for highly stable Li–S batteries.