Lithium–sulfur
(Li–S) batteries with high specific
energy density, low cost, and environmental friendliness of sulfur
have been regarded as a competitive alternative to replace lithium-ion
batteries. However, the shuttle effect and the sluggish conversion
rate of lithium polysulfides (LiPSs) have seriously limited the practical
application of Li–S batteries. Herein, high-entropy oxides
grown on the carbon cloth (CC/HEO) are synthesized by a simple and
ultrafast solution combustion method for the sulfur cathode. The as-prepared
composites possess abundant HEO active sites for strong interaction
with LiPSs, which can significantly promote redox kinetics. Besides,
the carbon fiber substrate not only ensures high electrical conductivity
but also accommodates large volume change, leading to a stable sulfur
electrochemistry. Benefiting from the rational design, the Li–S
batteries with CC/HEO as cathode skeleton exhibits good cyclability
with a capacity decay rate of 0.057% per cycle after 1000 cycles at
2 C. More importantly, the Li–S batteries with 4.3 mg cm–2 high sulfur loading can still retain a high capacity
retention of 78.2% after 100 cycles.