Dasari Bosubabu

Engineered oxygen vacancies in Mn-rich DRX oxyfluorides promote the DRX-to-δ transformation by enabling tetrahedral (Td) site activation. A 50 °C CCCV protocol activates δ phase within one cycle, and Ti/Al co-doping improves cycling stability.

The major challenges in enhancing the cycle life of lithium‐sulfur (Li−S) batteries are polysulfide (PS) shuttling and sluggish reaction kinetics (S to Li₂S, Li₂S to S). To alleviate the above issues, the use of heteroatom‐doped carbon as a cathode host matrix is a low‐cost and efficient approach, as it works as a dual‐functional framework for PS anchoring as well as an electrocatalyst for faster redox kinetics. Here, the dual role of heteroatom‐doped carbon sheets (CS) in the chemisorption of Li₂S₆ and catalysis of its faster conversion to Li₂S is established. To substantiate the catalytic effect, composite cathodes were prepared by encapsulating sulfur in CS which is further blended with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to form a free‐standing cathode. The electrochemical performances of the three cathodes (S@Fe−N‐CS‐CNT, S@Fe−S‐CS‐CNT, and S@Fe‐NS‐CS‐CNT) were evaluated by constructing Li−S cells. The S@Fe‐NS‐CS‐CNT delivers a high initial discharge capacity of 1017 mAh g⁻¹ at 0.5 C rate and sustains a capacity of 751 mAh g⁻¹ after 260 cycles with a capacity retention of 73.8 %. Even at a high S loading (12 mg cm⁻²), it delivers an initial discharge capacity of 892 mAh g⁻¹ and retained 575 mAh g⁻¹ after 200 cycles.

A key challenge for practical magnesium–sulfur (Mg–S) batteries is to overcome the sluggish conversion kinetics of sulfur cathodes, achieving a high energy density and long‐lasting battery life. To address this issue, a doping strategy is demonstrated in a model Ketjenblack sulfur (KBS) cathode by introducing selenium with a high electronic conductivity. This leads to a significantly enhanced charge transfer in the resultant KBS_1−xSe_x cathodes, giving rise to a higher S utilization and less polysulfide dissolution. Compared to the bare S cathode, the S‐Se composite cathodes exhibit a higher capacity, smaller overpotentials, and improved efficiency, serving as better benchmark compounds for high‐performance Mg–S batteries. First principles calculations reveal a charge transport mechanism via electron polaron diffusion in the redox end‐products, that enhances the reaction kinetics. By suppressing polysulfide dissolution in the electrolyte, the use of the KBS_1−xSe_x cathodes also enables a more uniform anode reaction, and thereby significantly extends the cyclability of the cells. To improve the performance, further efforts are made by implementing a Mo₆S₈ modified separator into the cell. With an optimized cathode composition of KBS_0.86Se_0.14, the cell applying modified separator shows an improvement of capacity retention by >50% after 200 cycles.

In this work, a structurally revivable, chloride‐ion conducting solid electrolyte (SE), CsSn_0.9In_0.067Cl₃, with a high ionic conductivity of 3.45 × 10⁻⁴ S cm⁻¹ at 25 °C is investigated. The impedance spectroscopy, density functional theory, solid‐state ³⁵Cl NMR, and electron paramagnetic resonance studies collectively reveal that the high Cl⁻ ionic mobility originates in the flexibility of the structural building blocks, Sn/InCl₆ octahedra. The vacancy‐dominated Cl⁻ ion diffusion encompasses co‐ordinated Sn/In(Cl) site displacements that depend on the exact stoichiometry, and are accompanied by changes in the local magnetic moments. Owing to these promising properties, the suitability of the CsSn_0.9In_0.067Cl₃, as an electrolyte is demonstrated by designing all‐solid‐state batteries, with different anodes and cathodes. The comparative investigation of interphases with Li, Li–In, Mg, and Ca anodes reveals different levels of reactivity and interphase formation. The CsSn_0.9In_0.067Cl₃ demonstrates an excellent humidity tolerance (up to 50% relative humidity) in ambient air, maintaining high structural integrity without compromises in ionic conductivity, which stands in contrast to commercial halide‐based lithium conductors. The discovery of a halide perovskite conductor, with air processability and structure revival ability paves the way for the development of advanced air processable SEs, for next‐generation batteries.

Lithium‐sulfur (Li−S) batteries are attractive owing to their high energy density and cost‐effectiveness. However, the practical application of Li−S batteries is hindered by uncontrollable lithium dendrite growth and severe polysulfide shuttling during cycling. Here, we fabricated 100 nm thin SiO₂ decorated on carbon cloth (SiO₂@CC). It is observed that in‐situ lithiation of SiO₂ forms a highly lithiophilic Li_xSiO_y layer over SiO₂ which further acts as an efficient host for dendrite‐free lithium metal deposition. So lithiated SiO₂@CC shows high affinity for homogenous growth of Li while the carbon fibers control the volume change during the deposition/stripping process. Hence, the synergistic effect of Li_xSiO_y layer and carbon cloth (CC) effectively suppresses dendritic Li growth. As a result, the symmetric cell exhibits an ultra‐stable cycling performance over 1000 h with a low overpotential of −2. Further, the lithiated SiO₂@CC is used as a lithium metal‐free anode (also a flexible electrode) for Li−S battery, which exhibits a stable capacity of 800 mAh g⁻¹ over 500 cycles due to its unique structural properties. This work offers new insights and paves the way for developing dendrite‐free, high‐performance Li−S battery technology.

Rechargeable chloride‐ion batteries (CIBs) are a new emerging battery technology that can potentially provide high theoretical volumetric capacities at lower cost and higher abundance. However, research on CIBs is in its early stages, and the current challenge lies in finding suitable electrodes and electrolytes. Herein, tungsten oxychloride is introduced for the first time as a cathode candidate for use in CIB. WOCl₄ enables the reversible transfer of nearly one Cl⁻ per formula unit during electrochemical cycling, corresponding to an initial discharge capacity of 120 mAh g⁻¹. A reversible capacity of 90 mAh g⁻¹ (75%) is retained after 50 cycles. Postmortem analysis of cycled electrodes by X‐ray diffraction, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy reveals the reversible chloride‐ion transfer between the electrodes through a conversion mechanism. This work paves the way for the use of tungsten chloride‐based electrode materials for battery applications.