Practical applications of lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries are hindered mainly by the low sulfur utilization and severe capacity fading derived from the polysulfide shuttling. Catalysis is an effective remedy to those problems by promoting the conversion of polysulfides to reduce their accumulation in the electrolyte, which needs the catalyst to have efficient adsorption ability to soluble polysulfides and high activity for their conversion. In this work, we have proposed a bimetallic compound of NiCo₂S₄ anchored onto sulfur-doped graphene (NCS@SG) to fabricate a catalytic interlayer for Li-S batteries. Compared to CoS, the NiCo₂S₄ demonstrated much higher catalytic activity toward sulfur reduction reaction due to its multiple anchoring and catalytic active sites derived from the coordination of the bimetallic centers. As a result, the NCS@SG interlayer dramatically improved the specific capacity, rate performance, and cyclingstability of Li-S batteries. Especially, when the areal sulfur loading of the NCS@SG battery increased to 15.3 mg·cm^–2, the high-capacity retention of 93.9 % could be achieved over 50 cycles.

High-energy-density-batteries working at a wide-temperature range are urgently required in many performance-critical areas. Lithium-sulfur batteries (LSB) are promising high-energy-density batteries that have the potential to maintain high performance at extreme temperatures. However, some problems like severe shuttling and safety issues at high temperatures or sluggish reaction kinetics and charge-transfer process at low temperatures decrease the performance and hinder their practical uses in extreme temperature conditions. Therefore, broadening the working temperature of LSB with stable electrochemical performance becomes a crucial topic. In this paper, the key stumbling blocks for high and low-temperature LSB are comprehensively discussed. The solutions from the aspects of electrolyte and electrode materials are discussed to solve the aggravating shuttle effect and thermal safety issues under high temperature and the sluggish reaction kinetics under low temperature. Moreover, some specific promising solutions to extend the operating temperature range of LSB are also proposed and highlighted, which provide potential research directions on the practical LSB application in future.