State and future implementation perspectives of porous carbon-based hybridized matrices for lithium sulfur battery

Abstract

Recent notable progress in the lithium sulfur batteries (LiSBs) indicates the development of a futuristic mature energy storage system which has the potential of replacing the existing commercial batteries. Backed with the advantages of exceptional theoretical energy density, comparatively lower production cost, cheaper and environmentally benign abundant raw materials, the LiSBs have shown the utmost potential to defeat counterpart battery systems currently in the race of rechargeable energy devices. Despite of displaying extraordinary features, the LiSBs suffers from the non-conductivity of sulfur, shuttle effect caused by dissolution of polysulfides, volumetric changes in sulfur during charging/discharging, and dendrites formation at anode, which altogether causes capacity decay and poor battery lifespans. During the last decade, rigorous and innovative engineering designs in developing sulfur host materials have been considered to effectively overcome the drawbacks with LiSBs and utilize their full potential. This review specifically focuses on the porous carbon-based matrix materials which have been used for hosting sulfur cathodes. A detailed overview of structural merits of host materials and their detailed mechanism of interaction with sulfur along with key strategies of designing high performance cathodes for LiSBs is conferred in detail. Lastly, the major challenges and prospects for developing LiSBs technologies with superior energy density in combination with long cycle life for next generation electric vehicles are presented.