Carbon Coated Metal‐Based Composite Electrode Materials for Lithium Sulfur Batteries: A Review

Abstract

Lithium-sulfur battery is one of the most promising secondary battery systems due to their high energy density and low material cost. During the past decade, great progress has been achieved in promoting the performances of LiÀ S batteries by addressing the challenges at the laboratory-level model systems. With growing attention paid to the application of LiÀ S batteries, new challenges at practical cell scales emerge as the bottleneck. However, challenges remain for the commercialization of lithium-sulfur batteries. The current review mainly focused on metalbased catalysts decorated-carbon materials for enhanced lithium sulfur battery performance. Firstly, the synthesis methods of various carbon-sulfur composites are discussed, as well as the influence of different material structures on the electrochemical performance. Secondly, a variety of catalysts, including metal atoms, metal oxides, sulfides, phosphides, nitrides, and carbidedecorated carbon nanomaterials, are systematically introduced to determine how lithium can be enhanced by suppressing polysulfides and promoting redox conversion reactions. Also, analyzed the multi-step electrochemical reaction mechanism of the battery during the charging and discharging process, and provide a feasible path for the practical application of high energy density lithium-sulfur batteries.

Recent Progress in Framework Materials for High‐Performance Lithium‐Sulfur Batteries

“…Benefiting from the ordered structural periodicity and tunable pore size, framework materials are also considered promising for sulfur hosts [32–41] . Meanwhile, central metal ions in MOFs or functional groups in COFs are able to effectively adsorb polysulfides, and even can act as catalytic sites to accelerate the transformation of polysulfides [42] .…”

“…Benefiting from the ordered structural periodicity and tunable pore size, framework materials are also considered promising for sulfur hosts. [32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41] Meanwhile, central metal ions in MOFs or functional groups in COFs are able to effectively adsorb polysulfides, and even can act as catalytic sites to accelerate the transformation of polysulfides. [42] In a nutshell, conventional porous materials like porous carbon usually are Changyun Chen received his PhD degree from China Pharmaceutical University in 2006.…”

Chemistry Aspects and Designing Strategies of Flexible Materials for High‐Performance Flexible Lithium‐Ion Batteries

“…There are also methods for fabricating composite electrodes using hybridization technologies, such as designing free-standing electrode materials, carbon-based flexible electrode candidates via coating, spraying, and deposition, as well as the use of solid-state electrolytes. [7][8][9][10][11] In addition, the mechanical properties of the integrated device are evaluated in relation to the progress of FLIB assembly. [12][13][14][15] FLIBs are considered as one of the best energy-storage options for wearable devices, bendable displays, implanted medical devices, and so on.…”

“…There have been numerous attempts to construct FLIBs, but the field is still in its infancy, and the proper selection and integration of component materials still remain to be recognized. There are also methods for fabricating composite electrodes using hybridization technologies, such as designing free‐standing electrode materials, carbon‐based flexible electrode candidates via coating, spraying, and deposition, as well as the use of solid‐state electrolytes [7–11] . In addition, the mechanical properties of the integrated device are evaluated in relation to the progress of FLIB assembly [12–15] …”

Graphene/Heterojunction Composite Prepared by Carbon Thermal Reduction as a Sulfur Host for Lithium-Sulfur Batteries

“…Conductive carbon materials, such as carbon nanotubes [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ] and graphene [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ], can encapsulate polysulfides in the internal pores by physical adsorption [ 17 ]. However, the interaction between non-polar carbon materials and polar polysulfides is weak and cannot inhibit the diffusion of polysulfides in the long cycle process [ 18 , 19 ]. Although heteroatom doping can effectively polarize the surface of carbon materials [ 20 , 21 , 22 ], the concentration of existing doping methods is too low to play a role in sulfur fixation.…”