Permselective membranes in lithium–sulfur batteries

Integration of permselective membranes – as a subset of the separator systems – in the configuration of lithium–sulfur battery, is a relatively simple solution to tackle the issue of polysulfide dissolution into the electrolyte. Cation-selective materials such as graphene oxide (GO) and Nafion have demonstrated to serve effectively as electrostatic shields for polysulfide anions, retarding their diffusion to the anode side of the battery. Looking into the future, the introducing of these materials in the configuration/composition of multifunctional/multilayered separator systems will promote the high efficiency cycling of high content sulfur cathodes. Enhanced performance metrics and careful minimisation of the mass/volume of these extra components should result in enhanced volumetric/gravimetric energy densities on a cell level for lithium–sulfur battery.