Overview of the Latest Developments and Perspectives about Noncarbon Sulfur Host Materials for High Performance Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

Abstract

Lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries have attracted great attention in environmentally and friendly energy storage systems due to their excellent theoretical specific capacities and high energy densities. In addition, the element sulfur has a wide range of raw materials and low production costs and is considered to be a material with the most development potential. However, the poor electrical conductivity of sulfur, the volume expansion of sulfur during polarization, and the shuttle effect of lithium polysulfides (LiPSs) severely hinder the commercialization of Li–S batteries. Since carbon materials containing light nonpolar or weakly polar substances are used as sulfur hosts, there will be some difficulties in cycling stability, and the volumetric energy densities of Li–S batteries will be destroyed. In order to solve the existing problems, some polar substances are introduced into the cathode material to improve the cycle stability and effectively suppress the shuttle effect. This review presents polar materials commonly used in Li–S batteries, including single metals, metal nitrides, metal oxides, metal sulfides, and conducting polymers. Finally, this review not only summarizes the research directions and challenges of polar material applications but also looks forward to the development prospects of batteries, provides a pathway for the practical application of noncarbon sulfur host materials in Li–S batteries, and inspires more researchers to work on cathode materials.

Facile and Cheap Carbonized Cotton Cloth Interlayer Endows Lithium-Sulfur Batteries with High Performance in All Climates

“…At a high temperature of 50 °C, there are two obvious semicircles in the EIS curve (Figure 7c), the left in high-frequency area representing the formation of SEI and the right in medium-frequency area representing the R ct . 30,50,51 The R ct of CC and CCC is nearly the same. When it comes to the CV curve in Figure 7f, the result seems to support the adjacent 1 C cycling performance between CCC and CC batteries.…”

“…Correspondingly in Figure d,e, the redox peak currents of CCC in the discharging and charging process are distinctly larger, showing the faster and more thorough reaction among sulfur, polysulfides, and Li 2 S 2 /Li 2 S. Therefore, CCC batteries have a much better rate and cycling capacity performance than CC batteries at 0 and −30 °C. At a high temperature of 50 °C, there are two obvious semicircles in the EIS curve (Figure c), the left in high-frequency area representing the formation of SEI and the right in medium-frequency area representing the R ct . ,, The R ct of CC and CCC is nearly the same. When it comes to the CV curve in Figure f, the result seems to support the adjacent 1 C cycling performance between CCC and CC batteries.…”

Solvation structure of conjugated organosulfur polymers for lithium-sulfur battery cathodes

“…The Lithium-sulfur (Li/S) battery [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] is a promising electrochemical systems with a high theoretical specific capacity of 1672 mA hg −1 and a favorable specific energy density of 2567 Wh kg −1 , making it a promising alternative for traditional Li-ion battery. Furthermore, sulfur is a naturally abundant, easily available, relatively inexpensive material that is also environmentally friendly, 8,9 all of which are favorable for battery applications.…”

Review and Perspectives on Advanced Binder Designs Incorporating Multifunctionalities for Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

“…Researchers have focused on various strategies for modifying different components of the battery, including cathode, − anode, − separators, − and electrolytes , to understand these issues . These modifications include immobilization of sulfur into certain conducting hosts, ,− inserting functional interlayers between cathode and separators, − separator modification, , using electrolyte additives, − etc.…”