Engineering zirconium-based metal-organic framework-801 films on carbon cloth as shuttle-inhibiting interlayers for lithium-sulfur batteries

Lithium-sulfur batteries have been regarded as the next-generation rechargeable batteries due to their high theoretical energy density and specific capacity. Nevertheless, the shuttle effect of lithium polysulfides has hindered the development of lithium-sulfur batteries. Herein, a novel zirconium-based metal-organic frame-work-801 film on carbon cloth was developed as a versatile interlayer for lithium-sulfur batteries. This interlayer has a hierarchical porous structure, suitable for the immobilization of lithium polysulfides and accommodating volume expansion on cycling. Moreover, the MOF-801 material is capable of strongly adsorbing lithium polysulfides and promoting their catalytic conversion, which can be enhanced by the abundant active sites provided by the continuous structure of the MOF-801 films. Based on the above advantages, the lithium-sulfur battery, with the proposed interlayer, delivers an initial discharge capacity of 927 mAh·g−1 at 1 C with an extremely low decay rate of 0.04% over 500 cycles. Additionally, a high area capacity of 4.3 mAh·cm−2 can be achieved under increased S loading.