Sulfiphilic surfaces: The design of novel host materials for sulfur cathodes in lithium-sulfur batteries has been achieved through modification of the surface chemistry, by employing sulfiphilic surfaces with high electrical conductivity to develop stable, high-energy batteries. Compared to the physical-confinement technique, systems prepared by this method exhibited remarkable enhancements of both capacity and cycling stability. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.