(Correspondent: Wenxuan Xue) Recently, the research team led by Professor Shuai Wang from the School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at Wuhan Institute of Technology published a research paper titled "Phosphorus-Pinned Sulfur Vacancies Stabilize Heterointerfaces for High-performance Li–S Batteries" in the internationally renowned top-tier journal 《Advanced Functional Materials》 (a CAS Category I TOP journal, Impact Factor: 19.0). Wuhan Institute of Technology is the first affiliated institution of this paper, and Professor Shuai Wang is the corresponding author.
Lithium–sulfur batteries (LSBs) are widely recognized as one of the most promising candidates for next-generation high-energy-density storage systems due to their high theoretical capacity (1675 mAh g⁻¹), low cost, and environmental friendliness. However, the practical application of LSBs has been severely hindered by the "shuttle effect" of polysulfides and sluggish sulfur redox kinetics. Heterojunction electrocatalysts have attracted considerable attention for their tunable electronic structures and abundant active sites; nevertheless, the thermodynamic instability caused by excessive defect sites at the heterointerfaces often leads to continuous catalytic performance degradation.
To address this critical bottleneck, Professor Wang's team innovatively proposed a phosphorus-pinning sulfur vacancy strategy and successfully constructed a carbon-coated CoS₂–FeS₂ heterojunction catalyst (P-VS-CFS@C). By selectively occupying the pre-engineered sulfur vacancies with P³⁻ ions, the team not only effectively passivated the vacancy structures and suppressed interfacial trap effects, but also significantly enhanced the adsorption capability toward polysulfides. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations revealed that the introduction of phosphorus modulated local charge redistribution, generating spin-polarized states near the Fermi level and substantially lowering the energy barrier of the rate-determining step (Li₂S₂ → Li₂S). Benefiting from this innovative interfacial stabilization design, the P-VS-CFS@C cathode delivered outstanding electrochemical performance: it achieved a specific capacity of 784.1 mAh g⁻¹ at a high rate of 5 C, and maintained a capacity retention of 84% after 1000 long-term cycles at 1 C. Even under high sulfur loading and lean electrolyte conditions, the cathode still exhibited excellent rate capability and cycling stability, demonstrating its great potential for practical applications. This work provides new insights and theoretical guidance for balancing the activity and durability of electrocatalysts in next-generation energy storage systems.
In recent years, the university has been committed to talent cultivation as its core driving force, vigorously advancing the construction of first-class disciplines, strongly promoting innovative scientific research development, and continuously achieving high-level research outcomes. The publication of Professor Wang's research results fully demonstrates the solid achievements in talent cultivation within the university's chemical discipline development, helps enhance the international academic influence of chemistry and related disciplines, and provides strong support for the construction of "first-class disciplines."
Professor Shuai Wang is a professor, doctoral supervisor, academician of the Russian Academy of Engineering, Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC), vice director of the China Energy Society, and a fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). He has received the London International Invention Gold Award and Platinum Award. He has undertaken projects under the National Disruptive Technology Program, the National Key Research and Development Program of China, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. He has been honored with the "Outstanding Talents for the New Century" award from the Ministry of Education and the "Chutian Scholar Distinguished Professor" award from Hubei Province. His research primarily focuses on organic optoelectronic materials, phosphorus-based functional materials, and flexible electronic devices. He has proposed and developed "confined printing technology" and "atomic printing manufacturing," which regulate the physical and chemical behavior of materials through confinement effects. These technologies have been widely adopted by domestic and international research institutions and have been applied in the trillion-scale OLED display industry for printing manufacturing and atomic manufacturing, promoting the development of next-generation optoelectronic display and atomic manufacturing technologies. His work has been reported by CCTV.com, People's Daily, and Xinhua News. He has published over 130 papers in journals including Nature Communications, Advanced Materials, and Science Bulletin. (Reviewed by Junxia Yu)
