Trace Selenium Doping for Improving the Reaction Kinetics of ZnS Cathode for Aqueous Zn-S Batteries.

Aqueous Zinc-sulfur (Zn-S) batteries are promising for the field of energy storage due to their low cost, high theoretical capacity, and safety. However, the large volume expansion and the inherently poor conductivity of sulfur would result in electrode cracking and sluggish reaction kinetics, limiting the practical application of Zn-S batteries. Herein, commercial zinc sulfide (ZnS) is employed instead of S as cathode and proposed a doping modification strategy to solve the above problems. The designed ZnSSe cathode shows good cycle stability and much-improved reaction kinetics, which is due to the smaller bandgap of ZnSSe (1.40 eV) compared to ZnS (1.86 eV). As a result, the obtained ZnSSe cathode exhibits a high specific capacity of 552 mAh g (1672.6 mAh g based on S) at 0.1 A g and 330 mAh g (1000 mAh g based on S) at 2 A g. Moreover, the ZnSSe cathode can provide a high areal capacity of 3.8 mAh cm at a high mass loading of 10 mg cm and limited electrolyte (4 µL mg). This work provides a simple and effective cathode modification strategy, which is conducive to promoting the practical application of Zn-S batteries.