Integrated Design, Fundamental Insights, and Strategic Engineering of Carbon-Based Materials for Next-Generation Lithium-Sulfur Energy Storage Systems

초록

Lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs) have garnered significant attention as next-generation energy storage systems due to their exceptionally high theoretical capacity and superior gravimetric and volumetric energy densities. However, their widespread adoption remains hindered by persistent challenges, including polysulfide (PS) shuttling, low sulfur utilization, volume expansion, sluggish reaction kinetics, and insufficient sulfur loading. Carbon-based materials have emerged as promising sulfur hosts, offering structural, morphological, and functional tunability to address these limitations. Various strategies have been explored, including the integration of carbon materials with separators, binders, nanoparticles, and nanosheets; sulfur encapsulation within hollow scaffolds; anchoring of N4-coordinated single atoms (SAs); self-assembled biomaterials; functional group engineering; hybridization with polar nanoparticles and gel-based matrices; biomass-derived carbon sources; advanced structural modifications. This review provides a comprehensive analysis of recent advancements in carbon-based material design for LSBs, highlighting key behavioral characteristics, novel approaches, and material optimization strategies. Furthermore, it outlines current performance benchmarks and offers insights into future research directions for the continued advancement of LSB technology.

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