Identifying single-atom catalysts for boosted Al–S conversion reactions

Aluminum–sulfur (Al–S) battery is a promising energy storage system owing to its safety, crustal abundance and high theoretical energy density. However, its development is hindered by the sluggish reaction kinetics and poor reversibility. Herein, a series of porous carbon supported atomic transition metal catalysts ([email protected]) were considered to evaluate the catalytic activities in Al–S applications. Both theoretical and experimental results indicated that stable [email protected] all promote the Al–S conversion reactions. Batteries assembled with [email protected]/S demonstrated a high specific capacity of 509.4 mA h g − 1 at 1 A g − 1 after 200 cycles. In mechanism, atomic metal species weakened Al-S bonds of AlPSs and increased their reactivity. Particularly, distinctive Al-binding interaction between AlPSs and [email protected] was critical for its superior catalytic activity. This work gives a systematically understanding of single-atom catalyst for Al–S chemistry, and provides enlightenment for high performance Al–S batteries.