Novel Conductive Metal–Organic Framework for a High-Performance Lithium–Sulfur Battery Host: 2D Cu-Benzenehexathial (BHT)

Despite the high theoretical capacity of lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries, their commercialization is severely hindered by low cycle stability and low efficiency, stemming from the dissolution and diffusion of lithium polysulfides (LiPSs) in the electrolyte. In this study, we propose a novel two-dimensional conductive metal–organic framework, namely, Cu-benzenehexathial (BHT), as a promising sulfur host material for high-performance Li–S batteries. The conductivity of Cu-BHT eliminates the insulating nature of most S-based electrodes. The dissolution of LiPSs into the electrolyte is largely prevented by the strong interaction between Cu-BHT and LiPSs. In addition, orientated deposition of Li2S on Cu-BHT facilitates the kinetics of the LiPS redox reaction. Therefore, the use of Cu-BHT for Li–S battery cathodes is expected to suppress the LiPS shuttle effect and to improve the overall performance, which is ideal for practical application of Li–S batteries.