N,S-Doped V ₂ O ₃ -Modified Separator for Long-Cycle Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

The key strategy for enhancing the cycling stability of lithium–sulfur batteries (LSBs) lies in suppressing the detrimental shuttle effect of lithium polysulfides (LiPSs). In this work, transition-metal oxides are employed to play a dual role in simultaneously adsorbing and catalytically converting LiPSs, thereby mitigating the LiPSs shuttle effect and improving battery performance. Using 2-mercaptobenzothiazole as the ligand and ammonium metavanadate (NH4VO3) as the vanadium source, an organometallic framework precursor (SZ) is synthesized. Heteroatom-doped V2O3 nanomaterials (SZSO) are obtained by high-temperature calcination of the SZ precursor under an inert atmosphere. The SZSO separators in LSBs demonstrate stable charge–discharge performance at various rates, excellent cycling stability, and superior performance in both high- and low-temperature environments. Furthermore, when the sulfur loading is up to 3.92 mg cm–2, the SZSO separator batteries can release a capacity of 1060 mAh g–1 in the first cycle at 0.1 C. This straightforward synthesis method, shown to yield separator batteries with stable high-rate performance in this preliminary exploration, offers a promising route for further research into modifying transition-metal oxide membranes.