Material design and structure optimization for rechargeable lithium-sulfur batteries

Abstract

With the merits of low cost, abundant resources, environment friendliness, and high energy density, the Li-S battery is recognized as a promising alternative to the Li ion battery and is anticipated to play an important role in high-energy-density electrochemical storage systems. In this review, we first review the development process of Li-S batteries and briefly introduce the working principle of Li-S batteries. The scientific problems existing in the Li-S batteries, such as sulfur cathode, separator, electrolyte, and Li anode, and the corresponding countermeasures, are then summarized. Subsequently, main research advancements of Li-S batteries are comprehensively reviewed, and the critical concerns about commercialization of Li-S batteries are discussed. Finally, we give our perspectives on the development of high-performance Li-S batteries. We hope this review can provide the timely and comprehensive information on the future research direction of Li-S batteries and offer the guidance for material design and structure optimization of Li-S batteries.

Two Birds with One Stone: Interfacial Engineering of Multifunctional Janus Separator for Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

“…For the sulfur cathode, the most prominent problem is the severe polysulfide shuttling. [ 2–4 ] The dissolved polysulfides unimpededly migrate to the surface of the Li‐metal anode through the nanoporous Celgard separators, and are chemically reduced/electro‐reduced to generate either insoluble Li 2 S/Li 2 S 2 covered on the Li‐metal anode or low‐order soluble polysulfides, giving rise to loss of active sulfur, low Coulombic efficiency, increased electrolyte viscosity, and corrosion and passivation of the Li‐metal anode. Moreover, the slow kinetics of multielectron reactions of sulfur cathode aggravates the loss of soluble polysulfides to the electrolyte by diffusion, leading to inferior rate capability.…”

Boosting the Rate Performance of Li–S Batteries via Highly Dispersed Cobalt Nanoparticles Embedded into Nitrogen-Doped Hierarchical Porous Carbon

“…3 Multifarious strategies, including design of sulfur hosts, novel electrolytes and additives, and functionalized separators, have been adopted to circumvent the above-mentioned challenges. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] Among them, functionalizing separators with certain materials have been proved as an effective strategy to inhibit the shuttle effect and improve the electrochemical performance. 12,13 Initially, various carbonaceous materials, e.g., one-dimensional carbon nanotubes, two-dimensional graphene, and three-dimensional porous carbon, have been utilized as functional materials to physically confine polysulfides.…”

Tendencies in development of energy assistance systems in an electric car

“…They are also significantly lighter. The newest lithiumsulfur (Li-S) battery offered on the market offers an energy density of 2567 Wh/kg, reflecting up to a three to fivefold increase in performance over current Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) design counterparts [59,60].…”