In Situ Reconstruction of Electrocatalysts for Lithium–Sulfur Batteries: Progress and Prospects

摘要

The current research of Li–S batteries primarily focuses on increasing thecatalytic activity of electrocatalysts to inhibit the polysulfide shuttling andenhance the redox kinetics. However, the stability of electrocatalysts islargely neglected, given the premise that they are stable over extendedcycles. Notably, the reconstruction of electrocatalysts during the electrochemicalreaction process has recently been proposed. Such in situreconstruction process inevitably leads to varied electrocatalytic behaviors,such as catalytic sites, selectivity, activity, and amounts of catalyticsites. Therefore, a crucial prerequisite for the design of highly effectiveelectrocatalysts for Li–S batteries is an in-depth understanding of the variationof active sites and the influence factors for the in situ reconstructionbehaviors, which has not achieved a fundamental understanding andsummary. This review comprehensively summarizes the recent advancesin understanding the reconstruction behaviors of different electrocatalystsfor Li–S batteries during the electrochemical reaction process, mainlyincluding metal nitrides, metal oxides, metal selenides, metal fluorides,metals/alloys, and metal sulfides. Moreover, the unexplored issues andmajor challenges of understanding the reconstruction chemistry aresummarized and prospected. Based on this review, new perspectives areoffered into the reconstruction and true active sites of electrocatalysts forLi–S batteries.