Novel Inorganic Composite Materials for Lithium‐Ion Batteries

Abstract

Lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs) have revolutionized the way we interact with the world around us. This is in part due to their unrivaled energy density and stability relative to other energy storage chemistries such as lead‐acid, nickel–metal hydride, and nickel–cadmium batteries. Given the drive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from road transport, LIBs have now transitioned from application in consumer electronics to be the most critical component for electric vehicles (EVs); however, improvements in energy and power density, cost reduction, and lifetime are still required. The key aspects of an LIB that define its performance are mainly the anode, cathode, and electrolyte, however development of the separator and current collectors are also key considerations. In the vast majority of commercially available LIBs, the anode consists mostly of graphite and the cathode mostly of layered transition metal oxides, with an organic electrolyte facilitating the lithium‐ion transport between the two electrodes. This article provides an overview of the state of the art in developing inorganic composite materials for LIBs and concludes by highlighting the current challenges as well as the potential opportunities in the field.

Harnessing the Defects at Hetero‐Interface of Transition Metal Compounds for Advanced Charge Storage: A Review

“…[85][86][87][88][89][90][91] Figure 2 indicates a road map for the development history of heterojunctions with defects. [92][93][94][95][96][97][98][99][100][101] Since the first successful synthesis of heterojunctions in 1960, researchers have begun to explore heterostructures. [95,102] The term heterostructure deriving from multiple heterojunctions, was initially defined.…”

“…In recent years, some outstanding researchers expect to obtain better performance by controlling the defects in the heterostructures. [98][99][100][101] This heterostructure engineering has yielded some striking applications and still shows the substantial potential that needs to be continuously developed.…”

“…Timeline of heterostructure: from the first synthesis of heterojunctions to defective heterostructures for energy storage. [92][93][94][95][96][97][98][99][100][101] Figure 3. The built-in electric field and stress field at the hetero-interface in the presence of defects.…”

“…Timeline of heterostructure: from the first synthesis of heterojunctions to defective heterostructures for energy storage. [ 92–101 ] …”

Lightweight Carbon–Metal-Based Fabric Anode for Lithium-Ion Batteries

“…Since their commercialization in 1991 by Sony Corp., the energy density of lithium-ion batteries has almost tripled (<300 Wh·kg –1 ) with significant cost reduction (≤100 $·kWh –1 ) . With cathode chemistries (e.g., NMC, NCA, LFP, LMO) diversified, the choice of anodes is still limited to mostly graphite, while silicon and lithium titanium oxide (LTO) are secondary choices, and metallic lithium is under development. However, despite graphite being the most commonly used anode, its low capacity (∼372 mAh·g –1 ) and propensity to form lithium–metal dendrites is problematic .…”