Fabrication of a nanocrystal zinc oxide (ZnO)/nitrogen-doped (N-doped) graphene composite using a novel and facile in situ sol-gel technique is demonstrated. Two-dimensional nanostructure morphology with uniform ZnO nanoparticles (average diameter of 10.25 nm) anchored on N-doped graphene nanosheets was observed via electron microscopy. Because of the polar heteroatoms on the graphene sheets, an abundance sites for polysulfide absorption were provided. More importantly, the strong chemical interaction between ZnO and polysulfides efficiently hindered the transport of polysulfides. Consequently, the lithium/sulfur (Li/S) battery with the ZnO/N-doped graphene composite-coated separator delivered enhanced performance in terms of discharge capacity and cycling stability when compared to the cell with a normal separator. With the modified separator, the battery achieved a discharge capacity as high as 942 mAh g -1 for the first cycle and remained at 90.02 mAh g -1 after the 100th charge/discharge test at 0.1 C. Results indicate that impeding the shuttling of polysulfides contributes to efficiently improving the behavior of the Li/S battery. 4 of 9 associated with ionized pyridine N [28]. Peaks at 399.9 eV and 400.6 eV correspond to pyrrolic N (a nitrogen atom in a five-membered ring). The peak at 401.1 eV is attributed to graphitic N. From the Zn 2p spectrum (Fig. 2d), the peak with binding energy at 1021.9 eV is assigned to ZnO 2p 3/2, and peaks at 1044.7 eV and 1045.5 eV are indexed to ZnO 2p 1/2. All of these results indicate that the 2D ZnO/NDG composite interaction architecture was successfully fabricated using the simple in situ sol-gel technique. Interestingly, when comparing Fig. 2d with Fig. 2e, it can be seen that the peak at 1021.9 eV (ZnO 2p 3/2) before cycling was split into two peaks at 1021.9 eV (ZnSO4 2p 3/2) and 1022.0 eV (ZnS 2p 3/2) after cycling; this confirms the chemical interaction between ZnO and LiPs. Peaks located at 1044.7 eV and 1045.5 eV before cycling were negatively shifted to 1044.7 eV and 1045.5 eV, respectively, after cycling, and this corresponds to the absorption of sulfur-related species by the Zn-O bonding. In the S 2p spectrum after cycling (Fig. 2f), the peak centered at 168.3 eV can be assigned to sulfate, and the peaks at 169.0 eV, 169.9 eV, and 170.7 eV are related to metal-SO4 2species, which is in good accordance with the results of the Zn 2p spectrum after cycling.Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: