An excellent adsorptive TiO2@yV2O5 (y = 0.025–0.045) bifunctional composite endowing high sulfur loading as cathode material for lithium-sulfur batteries

•An excellent adsorptive TiO2@yV2O5 (y = 0.025–0.045) bifunctional composites have been designed.•This bifunctional composite can combine the advantages of the high stability of TiO2 and strong adsorption of V2O5.•TiO2@0.040 V2O5/S acts as an ideal cathode for lithium-sulfur batteries.•It exhibits high capacity retention of 77.36% at 0.2 C after 140 cycles and a small 202 mV polarization at 0.2 C.