Electrocatalysis for Continuous Multi‐Step Reactions in Quasi‐Solid‐State Electrolytes Towards High‐Energy and Long‐Life Aluminum–Sulfur Batteries
Zheng Huang, Wei Wang, Wei‐Li Song, Mingyong Wang, Haosen Chen, Shuqiang Jiao, Daining Fang
Abstract
Abstract Aluminum–sulfur (Al−S) batteries of ultrahigh energy‐to‐price ratios are a promising energy storage technology, while they suffer from a large voltage gap and short lifespan. Herein, we propose an electrocatalyst‐boosting quasi‐solid‐state Al−S battery, which involves a sulfur‐anchored cobalt/nitrogen co‐doped graphene (S@CoNG) positive electrode and an ionic‐liquid‐impregnated metal–organic framework (IL@MOF) electrolyte. The Co−N 4 sites in CoNG continuously catalyze the breaking of Al−Cl and S−S bonds and accelerate the sulfur conversion, endowing the Al−S battery with a shortened voltage gap of 0.43 V and a high discharge voltage plateau of 0.9 V. In the quasi‐solid‐state IL@MOF electrolytes, the shuttle effect of polysulfides has been inhibited, which stabilizes the reversible sulfur reaction, enabling the Al−S battery to deliver 820 mAh g −1 specific capacity and 78 % capacity retention after 300 cycles. This finding offers novel insights to design Al−S batteries for stable energy storage.