Tunable Interaction between Metal‐Organic Frameworks and Electroactive Components in Lithium–Sulfur Batteries: Status and Perspectives

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries, with high theoretical energy density, promise to be the optimal candidate of next-generation energy-storage. Rapid development in materials has made a major step forward in Li-S batteries. However, a big gap in cycle life and efficiency for practical applications still remains. Reasonable design of materials/electrodes a is significant aspect that must be addressed. The rising metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a new class of crystalline porous organic-inorganic hybrid materials. Abundant inorganic nodes and designable organic linkers allow tailored pore chemistry at a molecular-scale, which enables tunable interaction with electroactive components in Li-S batteries. In this review, the interaction between basic component/structure of MOFs and electroactive components in Li-S batteries is clarified to guide precise function-driven design of MOFs. First, the reaction mechanisms and issues in Li-S batteries are briefly summarized. Second, the structural advantages of MOFs in pore chemistry and morphology are highlighted. Based on the above two aspects of understanding, a bridge between issue-structure-function is proposed. The interaction between MOFs with transport and reaction of electroactive components are discussed. Finally, a perspective on the future development of MOFs based materials in Li-S batteries are given. It is believed that the tunable interaction will boost the frontier interdiscipline of MOFs based electrochemical systems.