Current Status, Problems and Challenges in Lithium-sulfur Batteries

Lithium-sulfur battery, fabricated with metal lithium as anode and sulfur as cathode, has received more attention as the most promising high energy power sources due to its high theoretical energy density (2600 Wh/kg). However, there are some serious and unavoidable problems for lithium-sulfur battery based on the dissolution-deposition processes in organic electrolyte, including serious structure change of metallic lithium anode, the lower utilization and poor cycle performance of active materials, which become a big barrier for the research and development of lithium-sulfur battery. The current status, problems and challenges of lithium-sulfur battery are summarized, including the sulfur-based cathode composites, electrolyte and lithium anode.