In-situ growth of NiFe-LDH nanosheets on carbon nanofibers as polysulfide barriers for Li-S batteries.

• The NiFe-LDH nanosheets grow on the carbon nanofibers via an in-situ conversion strategy. • The CNF@NiFe-LDH interlayer can effectively restrict the diffusion of polysulfides. • The CNF@NiFe-LDH interlayer cells exhibit good cyclic and rate performances. • High initial discharge capacity of 799 mAh g−1 at 1 C with a low decay ratio of 0.045 % per-cycle over 500 cycles. To solve the shuttle effect of polysulfides and sluggish reaction kinetics in Li-S batteries, a functional interlayer added between the cathode and separator has been proven to be a very effective means. The pleasing interlayer is usually formed by the conductive skeleton and active components that have polysulfide adsorption and catalytic conversion abilities. In this paper, an electrospinning method assisted with in-site growth strategy has been developed to design a hierarchical functional film with NiFe-LDH nanosheets anchored on carbon nanofibers (CNF@NiFe-LDH). Structural characterizations and electrochemical measurements have been taken to indicate that the CNF@NiFe-LDH interlayer can effectively restrict the diffusion of polysulfides and accelerate the redox kinetics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]