Material design and structure optimization for rechargeable lithium-sulfur batteries

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.