Heteronuclear Dual‐Atom Catalysis Boosts Reversible Li 2 S Deposition–Decomposition for Wide‐Temperature Lithium–Sulfur Batteries
ABSTRACT Wide‐temperature operation is essential for practical application of Li─S batteries. Constructing efficient electrocatalysts is an effective strategy to simultaneously alleviate sluggish conversion kinetics at low temperatures and aggravated lithium polysulfide shuttling at high temperatures. Herein, a heteronuclear Cu─Co dual‐atom catalyst‐modified separator (CuCo DACs@PP) was constructed to establish a relay‐catalytic pathway for bidirectional sulfur conversion. Mechanistic studies reveal that Cu sites exhibit stronger π‐bonding orbital overlap with Li 2 S, which lowers the nucleation barrier, while Co sites display pronounced π* antibonding contributions that facilitate Li 2 S activation. The electronically distinct yet spatially coupled Cu and Co sites jointly establish an orbital‐differentiated deposition–decomposition relay pathway, thereby suppressing insulating Li 2 S passivation and maintaining reversible sulfur redox kinetics under thermal perturbation. The CuCo DACs@PP cell operates stably from −20°C to 60°C. This work highlights the potential of atomically dispersed bimetallic catalysts for regulating kinetics over a wide‐temperature range.
Authors
- Zongheng Li
- Zhiliang Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7105-7950)
- Yaping Du (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9937-2087)
- Rufen Zhang
- Shuai Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3443-0132)
- Jing Liu
Institutions
- Nankai University (CN)
- Inner Mongolia University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Functional Materials
- Published
- 2026-09-18
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.78580
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Battery Materials and Technologies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Natural Science Foundation of Inner Mongolia