Nanostructured cathode materials for lithium–sulfur batteries: progress, challenges and perspectives

Lithium–sulfur batteries (LSBs) possess many fold higher energy densities than conventional batteries; however, their establishment as a dominant niche in modern electronics and grid level storage energy techniques is critically impeded by their short cycling life, limited sulfur loading and severe polysulfide shuttling effect. Tremendous achievement has been made during the last decade in eliminating the aforementioned obstacles by employing various strategies to enhance their performance and make them promising alternative candidates for the present energy storage technology that shows great potential for next-generation high-energy systems. To promote breakthroughs in this exciting field, here this article will highlight the recent progress in the innovation of sulfur cathodes with an emphasis on the design of a new class of materials, and engineering of advanced nanostructures and novel cell configurations to enhance the electrochemical stability of LSBs. We also discuss future research directions and the remaining challenging issues in the concluding remarks that pave the way for further significant progress in this field.