Building Practical High‐Voltage Cathode Materials for Lithium‐Ion Batteries

Abstract

It has long been a global imperative to develop high‐energy‐density lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs) to meet the ever‐growing electric vehicle market. One of the most effective strategies for boosting the energy density of LIBs is to increase the output voltage, which largely depends upon the cathode materials. As the most‐promising cathodes for high‐voltage LIBs (>4 V vs Li/Li+), four major categories of cathodes including lithium‐rich layered oxides, nickel‐rich layered oxides, spinel oxides, and high‐voltage polyanionic compounds still encounter severe challenges to realize the improvement of output voltage while maintaining high capacity, fast rate capability, and long service life. This review focuses on the key links in the development of high‐voltage cathode materials from the lab to industrialization. First, the failure mechanisms of the four kinds of materials are clarified, and the optimization strategies, particularly solutions that are easy for large‐scale production, are considered. Then, to bridge the gap between lab and industry, the cost management, safety assessment, practical battery‐performance evaluation, and sustainability of the battery technologies, are discussed. Finally, tough challenges and promising strategies for the commercialization of high‐voltage cathode materials are summarized to promote the large‐scale application of LIBs with high energy densities.

Juggling Formation of HF and LiF to Reduce Crossover Effects in Carbonate Electrolyte with Fluorinated Cosolvents for High‐Voltage Lithium Metal Batteries

“…In Ni-rich cathode, irreversible phase transitions in Ni-rich cathode happened in charging up to 4.3 V versus Li. [50][51][52] Nevertheless, beyond 4.55 V cut-off voltage, irreversible phase transitions in LCO began. [53][54][55][56] Therefore, the variation in the amount of antistites defects, as a result of different irreversible phase transitions voltage, is one mainly source of the many discrepancies in electrochemical behaviors at LCO and Ni-rich cathode.…”

Enabling interfacial stability of LiCoO2 batteries at an ultrahigh cutoff voltage ≥ 4.65 V via a synergetic electrolyte strategy

“…Commercial lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have played central roles in the storage battery market for decades and are gradually becoming the most important electrochemical energy storage system in the widespread utilization of renewable energies such as solar and wind energies. [1][2][3][4][5] Lithium cobalt oxide (LCO) is the preferred cathode material for LIBs deployed in the elds of information technology (IT), such as smart phone, pads, and laptops, in virtue of its good electronic/ionic conductivity, high discharge plateau, and superior volumetric energy density as compared to other cathodes. [6][7][8] However, with the fast upgradation and development of IT, the discharge capacity and energy density of conventional LCO-based batteries (cutoff below 4.5 V vs. Li/Li + ) could not match the growing market demand.…”

A novel strategy via electrode catalysis induced nano transformation for lithiated-bimetallic-oxides to avoid the long activation process of advanced lithium-ion batteries

“…In recent decades, the rapid development of portable electronic equipment, hybrid electric vehicles, and electric vehicles, as well as the huge demand for large energy storage equipment due to the rapid development of clean energy, have led to extensive research on lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) with high power density and stability. [1][2][3][4] The performance of LIBs mainly depends on electrode materials. As one of the important components of LIBs, anode materials have gradually attracted extensive attention.…”