Conclusive summary and perspective Lithium-ion batteries are considered to remain the battery technology of choice for the near-to mid-term future and it is anticipated that significant to substantial further improvement is possible.
The potential of these unique power sources make it possible to foresee an even greater expansion of their area of applications to technologies that span from medicine to robotics and space, making lithium batteries the power sources of the future. To further advance in the science and technology of lithium batteries, new avenues must be opened.
Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), while first commercially developed for portable electronics are now ubiquitous in daily life, in increasingly diverse applications including electric cars, power tools, medical devices, smart watches, drones, satellites, and utility-scale storage.
Forecasts on the future lithium-ion battery demand show, in fact, that a significant increase in nickel supply is needed, which is not covered by the existing mines. Accordingly, new mining projects and recycling strategies are inevitable, while ideally also new, low nickel content chemistries will be explored. 3.2.2.
Lithium batteries are characterized by high specific energy, high efficiency and long life. These unique properties have made lithium batteries the power sources of choice for the consumer electronics market with a production of the order of billions of units per year.
It would be unwise to assume ‘conventional’ lithium-ion batteries are approaching the end of their era and so we discuss current strategies to improve the current and next generation systems, where a holistic approach will be needed to unlock higher energy density while also maintaining lifetime and safety.