Amorphous/crystalline interwoven multipods with high Co/Ni activity for wide-temperature-range sodium-sulfur batteries

Sluggish kinetics caused by 16-electron transfer hinders development of wide-temperature-range sodium-sulfur batteries. Here we report Sn-doped CoNiS multipods with an amorphous-crystalline interwoven structure. Employed as a positive electrode catalyst, the resulting sodium-sulfur battery exhibits a discharge capacity of 1320.8 mAh g^-1 at 3 A g^-1 after 1200 cycles at room temperature, together with stable and high-capacity electrochemical performance ranged from -20 to 50 °C. It has been evidenced that the amorphous/crystalline interfaces generated by Sn doping can adjust the microelectronic environment of Co and Ni atoms, optimize their adsorption energy toward sodium polysulfide intermediates through Co-S and Ni-S bonding, and thus decrease the energy barrier of polysulfide conversion. This interfacial regulation efficiently lowers the energy barrier of the rate-determining step and facilitates the overall reaction kinetics over a wide temperature range. This work provides an efficient amorphous/crystalline interface engineering strategy to develop high-performance catalysts.