Although the rechargeable lithium–sulfur battery is an advanced energy storage system, its practical implementation has been impeded by many issues, in particular the shuttle effect causing rapid capacity fade and low Coulombic efficiency. Herein, we report a conductive porous vanadium nitride nanoribbon/graphene composite accommodating the catholyte as the cathode of a lithium–sulfur battery. The vanadium nitride/graphene composite provides strong anchoring for polysulfides and fast polysulfide conversion. The anchoring effect of vanadium nitride is confirmed by experimental and theoretical results. Owing to the high conductivity of vanadium nitride, the composite cathode exhibits lower polarization and faster redox reaction kinetics than a reduced graphene oxide cathode, showing good rate and cycling performances. The initial capacity reaches 1,471 mAh g⁻¹ and the capacity after 100 cycles is 1,252 mAh g⁻¹ at 0.2 C, a loss of only 15%, offering a potential for use in high energy lithium–sulfur batteries.

We review the development of carbon–sulfur composites and the application for Li–S batteries. Discussions are devoted to the synthesis approach of the various carbon–sulfur composites, the structural transformation of sulfur, the carbon–sulfur interaction and the impacts on electrochemical performances. Perspectives are summarized regarding the synthesis chemistry, electrochemistry and industrial production with particular emphasis on the structural optimization of carbon–sulfur composites.