Fabrication Methods of Porous Carbon Materials and Separator Membranes for Lithium–Sulfur Batteries: Development and Future Perspectives

Abstract

Lithium–sulfur batteries (Li–S batteries) have a five times higher energy density than state‐of‐the‐art lithium‐ion batteries and have attracted world‐wide attention. However, many inherent problems limit the practical application of Li–S batteries. Among them, the dissolution of polysulfides, which is called the “shuttle effect”, is rather severe and usually causes irreversible capacity decay. Many methods have been developed to overcome this problem, including the rational design of porous cathode hosts, modification of separators to prevent the migration of polysulfides, and the addition of transition‐metal oxides for polysulfide adsorption. Here, the various preparation methods for the development of high performance Li–S batteries are reviewed. The advantages and disadvantages of each method are discussed in detail, shedding light on directions for further research and development in the future.

Adsorption‐Catalysis Design in the Lithium‐Sulfur Battery

“…[1][2][3][4][5] The main capacity of Li-S battery can be ascribed to the transformation of longchain LiPSs to the short-chain sulfides. [12,13] However, owing to the nonpolar surface, physical encapsulation for LiPSs is not effective enough to suppress the shuttle effect. [9][10][11] To address this problem, scientists have focused on studying physical blocking and chemical adsorption of the LiPSs in the past years.…”

Structural Design of Lithium–Sulfur Batteries: From Fundamental Research to Practical Application

“…The tap density of cathodes (ρ cathode ) and volumetric energy density (V Energy density ) are closely related to the porosity and sulfur content of the cathodes, which can be calculated by Eqs. (2)- (9). The relationships between volumetric energy density, sulfur content, and porosity of cathode are shown in Fig.…”

“…Unfortunately, state-of-theart LIBs based on insertion-type transition metals/metal oxides cannot deliver enough energy density to meet the increasing demands of long-range electric vehicles [2][3][4]. Hence, it is of significance to search for new electrode materials which possess low molecular/atomic weight and are capable of multi-ion/-electron transfers per molecule/ atom [3,[5][6][7][8][9][10]. As one of the most abundant elements in the earth's crust, sulfur possesses a relatively low atomic weight of 32 g mol −1 and is a cost-effective and environmental friendly alternative to tradition LIBs.…”

Macroporous Activated Carbon Derived from Rapeseed Shell for Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

“…Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries are expected to perform a significant role in the field of energy storage owing to its ultrahigh theoretical energy density of 2500 Wh kg −1 , environmental friendliness, and low cost [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. However, in practical applications, Li-S batteries are usually hindered by problems originating from the sulfur cathode, metallic lithium anode, and electrolyte [20][21][22][23].…”

“…However, in practical applications, Li-S batteries are usually hindered by problems originating from the sulfur cathode, metallic lithium anode, and electrolyte [20][21][22][23]. For the sulfur cathode, key problems mainly comprise three aspects: the low conductivity of sulfur and its discharge products, the diffusion of polysulfide ions, and the expansion of active material during electrochemical reaction [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]. To solve the abovementioned problems, one of the most effective methods is loading sulfur into electronically conductive frameworks with good structural stability [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32].…”