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Modifications of Separators for Li–S Batteries with Improved Electrochemical Performance

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Abstract

Lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries are widely regarded as one of the promising next-generation secondary energy storage systems. However, some tricky challenges, such as electrically insulating elemental sulfur, shuttle effect and lithium dendrites, have been limiting its practical application. Modification of separators, which is found as a facile and low-cost settlement, has shown great advantages in solving the above three crucial problems, leading to greatly improved performance of Li–S batteries. In this paper, we summarize recent progresses on separators for Li–S batteries including coatings such as carbon materials, polymers, and inorganic materials, and tailoring multi-functional gel separators to achieve Li–S batteries with high performance. The importance and development directions of functional separators in the further commercialization of Li–S batteries are also discussed.

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Funding

Financial supports from National Key Project of MOST (2018YFB0104301), National Natural Science Foundation Committee of China (Distinguished Youth Scientists Project of 51425301, U1601214, 51573013, 51773092 and 51772147), 1000 Youth Talents Plan of National Natural Science Foundation of China (51773092), Research Foundation of State Key Lab (ZK201805 and ZK201717), and Jiangsu Distinguished Professorship Program (2016) are greatly appreciated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Materials-oriented Chemical Engineering, Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM) and School of Energy Science and Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, 211816, Nanjing, China

    Dezhi Yang, Xiaosong Xiong, Yusong Zhu, Yuhui Chen, Lijun Fu, Yi Zhang & Yuping Wu

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  1. Dezhi Yang
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  2. Xiaosong Xiong
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  3. Yusong Zhu
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  4. Yuhui Chen
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  5. Lijun Fu
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  6. Yi Zhang
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  7. Yuping Wu
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The authors Dezhi Yang and Xiaosong Xiong contributed equally.

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Correspondence to Yuping Wu.

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Dedicated to Prof. Valery V. Malev on the occasion of his 80th birthday.

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Dezhi Yang, Xiong, X., Zhu, Y. et al. Modifications of Separators for Li–S Batteries with Improved Electrochemical Performance. Russ J Electrochem 56, 365–377 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1023193520050110

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