This will necessitate the development of novel battery chemistries with increased specific energy, such as the lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries. Using sulfur active material in the cathode presents several desirable properties, such as a low-cost, widespread geological abundance, and a high specific capacity.
One next-generation battery technology considered promising is the lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery, fundamentally based on a lithium metal foil anode and a sulfur-containing cathode. (11) Besides having a high specific energy density, (12) Li-S batteries commonly do not contain any other rare elements than lithium.
One of the most promising strategies to achieve high specific energy is constructing all-solid-state lithium metal batteries (ASSLMBs) by replacing the widely used graphite anode (372 mAh g −1) with Li metal anode (3860 mAh g −1), with the safety concerns addressed by using non-flammable solid-state electrolytes (SEs).
The all-solid-state lithium-sulfur battery exhibited a capacity of 660.3 mAh g −1 after 400 cycles at a high rate of 1 C. Another method involves adding surfactants to the dissolved solution. Wu et al. used polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as a surfactant to form a homogeneous solution with Li 2 S and ethanol.
In this review, we describe the development trends of lithium-sulfur batteries (LiSBs) that use sulfur, which is an abundant non-metal and therefore suitable as an inexpensive cathode active material. The features of LiSBs are high weight energy density and low cost.
State-of-the-art lithium-ion batteries can yield a cell-level specific energy on the order of 250 W h kg −1, which has enabled widespread use in applications ranging from portable electronics to electrified mobility [3, 6].