Advances in lithium—sulfur batteries

This review is focused on the state-of-the-art of lithium-sulfur batteries. The great advantage of these energy storage devices in view of their theoretical specific capacity (2500 Wh kg−1, 2800 Wh L−1, assuming complete reaction to Li2S) has been the motivation for a huge amount of works. However, these batteries suffer of disadvantages that have restricted their applications such as high electrical resistance, capacity fading, self-discharge, mainly due to the so-called shuttle effect. Strategies have been developed with the recent modifications that have been proposed as a remedy to the shuttle effect, and the insulating nature of the polysulfides. All the elements of the battery are concerned and the solution, as we present herewith, is a combination of modification of the cathode, of the separator, of the electrolyte, including the choice of binder, even though few binder-free architectures have now been proposed.