Titanium carbide nanosheets as sulfur hosts with excellent adsorption and electrocatalysis properties for advanced electrochemical performance

The rechargeable lithium-sulfur battery is an attractive energy storage device due to the high specific capacity and high energy density. The wide application of lithium-sulfur batteries, however, is hindered owing to the rapid capacity fading caused by the polysulfide dissolution and migration between the cathode and anode side. Herein, we demonstrate a new strategy to address the severe problem of polysulfide migration during the electrochemical cycles by designing titanium carbide nanosheets/S hybrid composites. In this unique hybrid structure, the titanium carbide nanosheets could provide fast lithium-ion and electron paths and keep structural stability during the cycles. Moreover, the space of the titanium carbide nanosheets acts as binding sites for trapping polysulfide. As a result, the hybrid titanium carbide nanosheets/S composites exhibit high performance with specific capacity, rate capability, and cycling stability.