With its unique features, lithium sulfide (Li₂S) has been investigated as the cathode material for next-generation rechargeable batteries. Even though Li₂S itself cannot solve all the problems faced by lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs) and it may also introduce new issues, it does provide new opportunities. As the fully lithiated state of sulfur, Li₂S offers the prospect of lithium-metal-free anodes and will also alleviate the volume expansion issues otherwise occurred in the sulfur cathode. Perhaps a most radical change when substituting sulfur with Li₂S lies at the high-temperature process ability of the latter, thus opening new avenues to construct rationally designed electrodes. Despite sharing certain similarities with sulfur-based LSB, Li₂S-based has its own opportunities and challenges in term of material synthesis, electrode fabrication, cell construction, and electrochemical behavior. To advance its state of the art, this review article discusses the current understandings on the initial Li₂S activation process, which plays a crucial role in guiding Li₂S nanostructure design and fabrication. With this leading thread, the article surveys impactful works on producing Li₂S nanoparticles, encapsulating Li₂S nanoparticles, simultaneously producing and encapsulating Li₂S nanoparticles, and fabricating Li₂S cathodes, followed by constructing lithium-metal-free LSBs. The pros and cons of different methods and the associated electrochemical behaviors are highlighted. Throughout, we call out the important research opportunities and challenges, both scattered out in the survey and aggregated in our conclusion perspective on future works, towards the fundamental understanding and practical development of Li₂S-based LSBs.

硫化锂（Li ₂ S）具有其独特的功能，已被研究用作下一代可充电电池的正极材料。尽管Li ₂ S本身不能解决锂硫电池（LSB）面临的所有问题，并且也可能引入新的问题，但确实提供了新的机会。作为硫的完全锂化状态，Li ₂ S提供了无锂金属阳极的前景，还将减轻否则会在硫阴极中发生的体积膨胀问题。用Li ₂替代硫时，可能是最根本的改变S取决于后者的高温处理能力，从而为构造合理设计的电极开辟了新途径。尽管与基于硫的LSB具有某些相似之处，但基于Li ₂ S的材料在材料合成，电极制造，电池结构和电化学行为方面都有其自身的机遇和挑战。为了提高其技术水平，这篇综述文章讨论了对初始Li ₂ S活化过程的当前理解，这对指导Li ₂ S纳米结构的设计和制造起着至关重要的作用。以此为线索，本文概述了在生产Li ₂ S纳米颗粒，封装Li _2方面的有影响的工作。S纳米粒子，同时生产和封装Li ₂ S纳米粒子，并制造Li ₂ S阴极，然后构建不含锂金属的LSB。突出了不同方法的优缺点以及相关的电化学行为。在整个过程中，我们指出了重要的研究机会和挑战，这些挑战和挑战既分散在调查中，也总结在我们对未来工作的结论观点中，以期对基于Li ₂ S的LSB的基本了解和实际发展。