John B. Goodenough recounts the history of the lithium-ion rechargeable battery. A battery contains one or many identical cells. Each cell stores electric power as chemical energy in two electrodes, the anode and the cathode, which are separated by an electrolyte.
Components of a rechargeable Li-ion battery. In the 1960s, chemists in Europe were exploring the chemistry of reversible insertion of lithium into layered transition-metal sulfides. At that time, rechargeable batteries used strongly acidic (H 2 SO 4) or alkaline (KOH) aqueous electrolytes that offered fast hydrogen-ion (H +) diffusion.
Rechargeable lithium solid polymer electrolyte (Li-SPE) cells mainly use Li-free vanadium oxide (V 2 O 5) or its derivatives as the positive electrode. Subaru’s “G4e” electric vehicle (2007) concept utilized a lithium vanadium oxide-based lithium-ion battery, promising double the energy density of lithium cobalt oxide and graphite. 2.
Rechargeable Li-ion batteries must be systematically designed using durable, high-performance components to warrant a sustainable redox activity upon charge/discharge cycles. Investigating structure-property relationship is an inevitable part of research strategies concerning electrodes and their interfaces with electrolytes.
Lithium batteries can be classified by the anode material (lithium metal, intercalated lithium) and the electrolyte system (liquid, polymer). Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries (secondary cells) containing an intercalation negative electrode) should not be confused with nonrechargeable lithium primary batteries (containing metallic lithium).
Among the available electrochemical energy storage devices, rechargeable batteries, such as lead-acid, nickel-cadmium, and nickel metal hydride batteries have been successfully applied in various applications, e.g., consumer electronics and vehicles, for several decades.
OverviewDesignHistoryFormatsUsesPerformanceLifespanSafety
Generally, the negative electrode of a conventional lithium-ion cell is graphite made from carbon. The positive electrode is typically a metal oxide or phosphate. The electrolyte is a lithium salt in an organic solvent. The negative electrode (which is the anode when the cell is discharging) and the positive electrode (which is the cathode when discharging) are prevented from shorting by a separator. The el…