二次锂硫电池被视为最具有发展潜力的下一代高能量密度二次电池之一. 但由于正极硫的电导率低（5×10^-30 S·cm^-1），且在放电过程中产生的中间体多硫化物易溶于有机电解液，致使锂硫电池活性物质利用率降低，溶解后的多硫化物还会迁移到负极，被还原成不溶物Li2S2/Li2S而沉积于负极锂，使电极结构遭受破坏，造成电池容量大幅衰减，循环性能差，从而限制了进一步的开发应用. 研究表明，以碳作为导电骨架的硫碳复合正极材料能在不同程度上解决上述问题，从而有效提高了锂硫电池的放电容量和循环性能. 本文综述了近年来国内外报道的各种锂硫电池正极材料的研究进展，结合作者课题组的研究，重点探讨了硫碳复合正极材料，并对其今后的发展趋势进行了展望.

Elemental sulfur has been extensively investigated as a promising candidate of cathode material for next generation lithium secondary batteries. However, some troublesome issues, such as the low electric conductivity of sulfur (5×10^-30 S·cm^-1) and the high solubility of lithium polysulfide intermediates in organic electrolytes, resulting in a low utilization of active material and a redox shuttling of dissolved polysulfide ions between the sulfur cathode and the lithium anode, which eventually leads to a deposition of insoluble and insulating Li₂S₂/Li₂S on the electrode surface and a fast reduction in the specific capacity. Notably, recent results indicate that carbon materials have been regarded as the ideal matrix for sulfur to improve the discharge capacity and cycling performance of lithium-sulfur batteries. In this review, recent development of carbon materials for lithium sulfur batteries is summarized and the prospect on sulfur/carbon composites cathode is discussed.