Oxygen vacancies on layered niobic acid that weaken the catalytic conversion of polysulfides in lithium–sulfur batteries

Abstract

Oxygen vacancies are usually considered to be beneficial in catalytic conversion of polysulfides in lithium–sulfur batteries. Now it is demonstrated that the conversion of polysulfides was hindered by oxygen vacancies on ultrathin niobic acid. The inferior performance induced by the oxygen vacancy was mainly attributed to the decreased electric conductivity as well as the weakened adsorption of polysulfides on the catalyst surface. This work shows that the care should be taken when designing a new catalyst for the lithium–sulfur battery using a defect-engineering strategy.