Lithium sulfur (Li–S) batteries have a high theoretical specific capacity (1675 mA h g⁻¹) and energy density (2600 W h kg⁻¹), possessing high potential as next-generation rechargeable batteries for long-distance transportation and large grid applications. Sulfurized polyacrylonitrile (SPAN) is known as an alternative sulfur cathode material for practical application in Li–S batteries, because of its capability of completely eradicating the shuttle of lithium polysulfides in comparison with elemental sulfur cathodes. It can be synthesized by simply heating polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and sulfur powder under the protection of an inert atmosphere and has good compatibility with carbonate-based electrolytes that are commonly used in Li-ion batteries, as well as adaptability to the manufacturing processes of current lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries. In the past few decades, SPAN has been widely investigated with respect to its chemical structure, redox reaction and electrochemical performance. Thus, it is of great interest to thoroughly summarize the recent progress in engineering SPAN material for practical application in Li–S batteries. This review aims to describe the achievements in this promising material and gives a comprehensive overview in terms of structures, mechanisms and performances. The relationship between the cell performance between the strategies applied and the cell performance was statistically analyzed on the basis of metadata from the literature, which could give the research direction and clues for the further study. Challenges and possible directions are also discussed to shed light on its implementation in large-scale commercial production in the future.

Terpenoids, also called isoprenoids, are a large and highly diverse family of natural products with important medical and industrial properties. However, a limited production of terpenoids from natural resources constrains their use of either bulk commodity products or high valuable products. Microbial production of terpenoids from Escherichia coli and yeasts provides a promising alternative owing to available genetic tools in pathway engineering and genome editing, and a comprehensive understanding of their metabolisms. This review summarizes recent progresses in engineering of industrial model strains, E. coli and yeasts, for terpenoids production. With advances of synthetic biology and systems biology, both strains are expected to present the great potential as a platform of terpenoid synthesis.

Naturally occurring carotenoids have been isolated and used as colorants, antioxidants, nutrients, etc. in many fields. There is an ever-growing demand for carotenoids production. To comfort this, microbial production of carotenoids is an attractive alternative to current extraction from natural sources. This review summarizes the biosynthetic pathway of carotenoids and progresses in metabolic engineering of various microorganisms for carotenoid production. The advances in synthetic pathway and systems biology lead to many versatile engineering tools available to manipulate microorganisms. In this context, challenges and possible directions are also discussed to provide an insight of microbial engineering for improved production of carotenoids in the future.