Mimicking the Peptidyl Enzyme Enables Polysulfide Electronic Axial Stretching Catalysis for Lean-Electrolyte Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.

Journal: ACS nano
Published Date: Jul 14, 2025

Abstract

Catalysts are effective in mitigating slow sulfur redox reaction (SRR) kinetics in lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries. However, ideal battery performance has yet to be achieved under lean-electrolyte conditions due to the massive accumulation of lithium polysulfides in the electrolyte aggravating low ionic conductivity, increased electrolyte viscosity, and sluggish reaction kinetics. Inspired by the thrombolytic and microcirculation improvement functions of peptidyl nattokinase (NK) enzymes, herein, NK and its peptidyl mimicry enzyme (i.e., the serine (Ser)-histidine (His)-aspartate (Asp) triplet active center) are developed to boost lean-electrolyte SRR, featuring electronic axial stretching catalysis of Ser, strongly electronegative adsorption of Asp, and lithiophility of N-rich His synergistically catalyzing tandem sulfur conversions. After optimizing the catalyst formula by machine learning, the resultant Li-S batteries deliver impressive rate capacity (744 mAh g at 5 C), durable cyclability at 0.5 C, and competitive areal capacity (8.87 mAh cm under an electrolyte/sulfur ratio of 4 μL mg).

Authors

  • Haohao Wang
    Key Laboratory of Carbon Materials of Zhejiang Province, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou 325035, P. R. China.
  • Qinyu Qiao
    Key Laboratory of Precision and Intelligent Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, University of Science and Technology of China, China.
  • Shuo Feng
    Key Laboratory of Precision and Intelligent Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, University of Science and Technology of China, China.
  • Dong Cai
    Key Laboratory of Carbon Materials of Zhejiang Province, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou 325035, P. R. China.
  • Peihang Li
    Key Laboratory of Carbon Materials of Zhejiang Province, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou 325035, P. R. China.
  • Jinchen Jiang
    College of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou 325035, P. R. China.
  • Tao Yang
    The First Clinical Medical College, The Affiliated People's Hospital of Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, Fujian, China.
  • Huagui Nie
    Key Laboratory of Carbon Materials of Zhejiang Province, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou 325035, P. R. China.
  • Jun Jiang
    Key Laboratory of Precision and Intelligent Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, University of Science and Technology of China, China.
  • Shuo Yang
    Department of Medical Statistics, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
  • Zhi Yang
    Field Scientific Observation and Research Station of Agricultural Irrigation in Ningxia Diversion Yellow Irrigation District, Ministry of Water Resources, Yinchuan, China.

Keywords

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