LAUSR

Sulfurized polyacrylonitrile is suggested to contain Sn (n ≤ 4) and shows good electrochemical performance in carbonate electrolytes for lithium sulfur batteries. However inferior results in ether electrolytes suggest that high solubility of Li2Sn (n ≤ 4) trumps the limited redox conversion, leading to dissolution and shuttling. Here, we introduce a small amount of selenium in sulfurized polyacrylonitrile to accelerate the redox conversion, delivering excellent performance in both carbonate and ether electrolytes, including high reversible capacity (1300 mA h g−1 at 0.2 A g−1), 84% active material utilization and high rate (capacity up to 900 mA h g−1 at 10 A g−1). These cathodes can undergo 800 cycles with nearly 100% Coulombic efficiency and ultralow 0.029% capacity decay per cycle. Polysulfide dissolution is successfully suppressed by enhanced reaction kinetics. This work demonstrates an ether compatible sulfur cathode involving intermediate Li2Sn (n ≤ 4), attractive rate and cycling performance, and a promising solution towards applicable lithium-sulfur batteries.Lithium sulfur batteries are promising for advanced energy storage, but polysulfide shuttling limits performance lifetime. Here the authors report selenium-doping in a sulfur-based cathode to prevent dissolution of polysulfide intermediates, leading to ether compatibility, high capacity and stable cycling.