Rechargeable lithium batteries and beyond: Progress, challenges, and future directions

Abstract

This issue contains assessments of battery performance involving complex, interrelated physical and chemical processes between electrode materials and electrolytes. Transformational changes in battery technologies are critically needed to enable the effective use of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind to allow for the expansion of hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) to plug-in HEVs and pure-electric vehicles. For these applications, batteries must store more energy per unit volume and weight, and they must be capable of undergoing many thousands of charge-discharge cycles. The articles in this theme issue present details of several growing interest areas, including high-energy cathode and anode materials for rechargeable Li-ion batteries and challenges of Li metal as an anode material for Li batteries. They also address the recent progress in systems beyond Li ion, including Li-S and Li-air batteries, which represent possible next-generation batteries for electrical vehicles. One article reviews the recent understanding and new strategies and materials for rechargeable Mg batteries. The knowledge presented in these articles is anticipated to catalyze the design of new multifunctional materials that can be tailored to provide the optimal performance required for future electrical energy storage applications.

Materials under pressure

“…In their article in this issue, Postorino and Malavasi illustrate these effects with two classes of modern technological materials. 25 First, the pressure-induced variation of the properties of hybrid perovskites for solar-energy cells (see also MRS Bulletin, May 2014 26 and August 2015 27 ) are illustrated and discussed in parallel with the chemically induced changes that occur by substituting different halides or organic ligands. [28][29][30] The authors illustrate how the bandgap and carrier lifetime-both critical for solar application-could be influenced by substitution or by substrate selection, thus suggesting new (potentially pressure-influenced) directions of approach to longstanding issues.…”

Lithium Polymer Electrolytes Based on Sulfonated Poly(ether ether ketone) for Lithium Polymer Batteries

“…ΔH m ΔH PEEK (1) in which ΔH m is the melting enthalpy of the sample and ΔH PEEK is the melting enthalpy of PEEK. Figure 3 (b) reveals the influence of LiTFSI on the melting endotherm (ΔH m ) and melting temperature (T m ) of the pure SPEEK membrane.…”

“…However, for their application in electric vehicles, lithiumion batteries suffer from various technical problems such as limited energy density, the lack of fast recharge cycles, limited cell lifetimes, and safety concerns. [1] The safety issue of Li-ion batteries arises as a result of the use of cyclic alkyl carbonates (such as ethylene carbonate) and their mixed solvent systems in electrolytes, which generate toxic gases upon degradation. [2] The most important challenges in liquid electrolyte systems include the limited electrochemical window, limited temperature range of operation, and surface reactions on the electrodes.…”

Monolayer black phosphorus as potential anode materials for Mg-ion batteries

“…Although the LIBs has been widely used in the portable electronic devised, yet the energy density and cycle life of the LIBs cannot satisfy the large demands of electric vehicles and renewable energy storage along with their potential safety issues, high cost, and resource scarcity [22,23]. As Mg have the similar atomic radius and chemical properties of Li, Mg-ion batteries (MIBs) are considered to be an alternative choice to the LIBs with high energy storage and conversion capacities.…”