Lithium-Sulfur Batteries under Lean Electrolyte Conditions: Challenges and Opportunities

The development of energy-storage devices has received increasing attention as a transformative technology to realize a low-carbon economy and sustainable energy supply. Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries are considered to be one of the most promising next-generation energy-storage devices due to their ultrahigh energy density. Despite the extraordinary progress in the last few years, the actual energy density of Li-S batteries is still far from satisfactory to meet the demand for practical applications. Considering the sulfur electrochemistry is highly dependent on solid-liquid-solid multi-phase conversion, the electrolyte amount plays a primary role in the practical performances of Li-S cells. Therefore, a lean electrolyte volume with low electrolyte/sulfur ratio is essential for practical Li-S batteries, yet under these conditions it is highly challenging to achieve acceptable electrochemical performances regarding sulfur kinetics, discharge capacity, Coulombic efficiency, and cycling stability especially for high-sulfur-loading cathodes. In this Review, the impact of the electrolyte/sulfur ratio on the actual energy density and the economic cost of Li-S batteries is addressed. Challenges and recent progress are presented in terms of the sulfur electrochemical processes: the dissolution-precipitation conversion and the solid-solid multi-phasic transition. Finally, prospects of future lean-electrolyte Li-S battery design and engineering are discussed.