Rechargeable lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries, featuring high energy density, low cost, and environmental friendliness, have been dubbed as one of the most promising candidates to replace current commercial rechargeable Li-ion batteries. However, their practical deployment has long been plagued by the infamous “shuttle effect” of soluble Li polysulfides (LiPSs) and the rampant growth of Li dendrites. Therefore, it is important to specifically elucidate the solvation structure in the Li–S system and systematically summarize the feasibility strategies that can simultaneously suppress the shuttle effect and the growth of Li dendrites for practical applications. This review attempts to achieve this goal. In this review, we first introduce the importance of developing Li–S batteries and highlight the key challenges. Then, we revisit the working principles of Li–S batteries and underscore the fundamental understanding of LiPSs. Next, we summarize some representative characterization techniques and theoretical calculations applied to characterize the solvation structure of LiPSs. Afterward, we overview feasible designing strategies that can simultaneously suppress the shuttle effect of soluble LiPSs and the growth of Li dendrites. Finally, we conclude and propose personal insights and perspectives on the future development of Li–S batteries. We envisage that this timely review can provide some inspiration to build better Li–S batteries for promoting practical applications.

Nowadays, two-dimensional transition metal chalcogenides have become attractive materials for flexible wearable devices because of their intriguing chemistry characteristics and sensitivity to external stimuli. However, the growth of two-dimensional materials on polymer surfaces is generally carried out by the time-consuming and costly chemical vapor deposition method. Reducing the manufacturing and integration costs while improving the device performance remains to be challenging. Herein, we report a simple liquid metal-assisted hydrothermal method for the growth of two-dimensional nanomaterials on the polymer surface. Specifically, a layer of liquid metal was coated on commercial tape, while layered cobalt sulfide was grown on its surface by a simple one-step hydrothermal method. Different kinds of flexible sensors can be prepared, such as bending sensor, pressure sensor, and humidity sensor, which can be used to detect motion, writing, breathing, and other signals. This strategy can also be assigned to sensing signals on different objects, which may further expand and enrich the application of two-dimensional materials in sensing.