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.

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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

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article

Lithium Thiostannate Molecular Mediator Enables Interfacial Electronic Reconstruction for Low‐Barrier Li 2 S Chemistry

Shuying Wang, Tianyu Lei, Dongjiang Chen, Yin Hu et al.
Advanced Functional Materials
Advanced Battery Materials and Technologies
article

Lithium Thiostannate Molecular Mediator Enables Interfacial Electronic Reconstruction for Low‐Barrier Li 2 S Chemistry

Shuying Wang, Tianyu Lei, Dongjiang Chen, Yin Hu, Wei Chen, Peng Li, Jun Chen, Yichao Yan, Sheng Liu
article en

Abstract

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.

Advanced Functional Materials
National Engineering Research Center of Electromagnetic Radiation Control Materials (CN)
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
Affordable and clean energy
Openalex Percentile: Top 19%
Advanced Battery Materials and Technologies
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