Lithium Thiostannate Molecular Mediator Enables Interfacial Electronic Reconstruction for Low‐Barrier Li 2 S Chemistry
ABSTRACT The practical implementation of Li 2 S cathodes in all‐solid‐state lithium‐sulfur batteries is severely hindered by sluggish ionic/electronic transport and a high activation barrier, particularly under high‐mass‐loading conditions. Herein, lithium thiostannate (Li 4 SnS 4 ) is introduced as a molecular mediator to activate Li 2 S redox chemistry. In situ growth of Li 4 SnS 4 on Li 2 S constructs a continuous Li + ‐transport network, increasing the ionic conductivity from 2.25 × 10 −5 to 3.99 × 10 −5 S cm −1 . More importantly, the hybridization between unsaturated Sn p orbitals and interfacial sulfur atoms induces the formation of Sn─S bonds, leading to local electron‐density redistribution around sulfur. This interfacial electronic reconstruction weakens Li + confinement within the sulfur lattice, softens the Li─S bond, and lowers the oxidation barrier, thereby reducing the initial charge potential from 2.94 to 2.41 V. Consequently, the Li 2 S@Li 4 SnS 4 cathode delivers stable cycling over 100 cycles under demanding conditions of 50 wt.% Li 2 S and areal loading of 5 mg cm −2 . Moreover, a prototype pouch cell retains sufficient capacity to power a light‐emitting diode panel after 100 cycles. This work demonstrates that interfacial electronic‐structure engineering offers an effective strategy for activating Li 2 S cathodes toward high‐energy all‐solid‐state Li‐S batteries.
Authors
- Shuying Wang
- Tianyu Lei (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-7009-2427)
- Dongjiang Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0567-0850)
- Yin Hu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2090-1845)
- Wei Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9044-9992)
- Peng Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8633-9045)
- Jun Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2218-7382)
- Yichao Yan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7889-6394)
- Sheng Liu
Institutions
- National Engineering Research Center of Electromagnetic Radiation Control Materials (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Functional Materials
- Published
- 2026-08-25
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.77927
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Battery Materials and Technologies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- China Postdoctoral Science Foundation
- Harbin Institute of Technology
- Natural Science Foundation of Sichuan Province
- National Postdoctoral Program for Innovative Talents