Heterostructured Co/CeO₂-Decorating N-Doped Porous Carbon Nanocubes as Efficient Sulfur Hosts with Enhanced Rate Capability and Cycling Durability toward Room-Temperature Na–S Batteries

Room-temperature sodium–sulfur (RT Na–S) batteries have gained significant interest thanks to their satisfactory energy density and abundant earth resources. Nevertheless, practical implementations of RT Na–S batteries are still impeded by serious shuttle effects of sodium polysulfide (NaPS) intermediates, sluggish redox kinetics of cathodes, and poor electronic conductivity from S-species. To solve these problems, heterostructured Co/CeO 2 -decorating N-doped porous carbon nanocubes (Co/CeO 2 -NPC) are constructed as a S support, which integrates the strong adsorption and fast conversion of NaPSs, together with superior electronic conductivity. Consequently, the as-synthesized S@Co/CeO 2 -NPC cathode for RT Na–S batteries exhibits improved rate performance (1275, 561.1, and 485 mAh g –1 at 0.1, 5, and 10 C, respectively) and superior cyclic durability (capacity degeneration of 0.027% per cycle after 1000 cycles at 5 C). Such a S cathode combining a heterostructure interface, hierarchical porous carbon nanocubes, and polar compositions can considerably increase electronic conductivity and promote NaPS adsorption and conversion, achieving superior performance toward RT Na–S batteries.