Lithium-ion battery development

The following chapter contains a collection of six papers specifically dedicated to the topic of metal/graphite composites as candidate active materials for the negative electrodes of the lithium-ion batteries of the near future. Editors believe this chapter to be a very first attempt made in the worldwide electrochemical literature to group metal/graphite composite lithium-ion battery developers into a stand-alone section of a book. 

Cho, T.-H., Tanaka, M., Onishi, H., Kondo, Y, Nakamura, T, Yamazaki, H., Tanase, S., Sakai, T, 2008. Silica-composite nonwoven separators for lithium-ion battery development and characterization. 

The feasibility of the gel electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries development has been tested by first examining their compatibility with appropriate electrode materials, i.e., the carbonaceous anode and the lithium metal oxide cathode. This has been carried out by examining the characteristics of the lithium intercalation-deintercalation processes in the electrode materials using cells based on the given polymer as the electrolyte and lithium metal as the counter electrode. 

R.A. Marsh, P.G. Russell, T.B. Reddy, Bipolar lithium-ion battery development , J. Power Sources, 65,133-141,1997. 

Cho T-H, Tanaka M, Ohnishi H, Kondo Y, Yoshikazu M, Nakamura T, Sakai T (2010) Composite nonwoven separator for lithium-ion battery development and characterization. J Power Sources 195(13) 4272-4277, http //dx.doi.Org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2010.01.018... 

The rechargeable lithium-ion battery is one of a number of new battery technologies which have been developed in the last ten years. TTiis battery system, operating at room temperature, offers several advantages compared to conventional aqueous battery technologies, for example,... 

The variety of practical batteries has increased during the last 20 years. Applications for traditional and new practical battery systems are increasing, and the market for lithium-ion batteries and nickel-metal hydride batteries has grown remarkably. This chapter deals with consumer-type batteries, which have developed relatively recently. 

There are many kinds of carbon materials, with different crystallinity. Their crystallinity generally develops due to heat-treatment in a gas atmosphere ("soft" carbon). However, there are some kinds of carbon ("hard" carbon) in which it is difficult to develop this cristallinity by the heat-treatment method. Both kinds of carbon materials are used as the negative electrode for lithium-ion batteries. 

Secondary lithium-metal batteries which have a lithium-metal anode are attractive because their energy density is theoretically higher than that of lithium-ion batteries. Lithium-molybdenum disulfide batteries were the world s first secondary cylindrical lithium—metal batteries. However, the batteries were recalled in 1989 because of an overheating defect. Lithium-manganese dioxide batteries are the only secondary cylindrical lithium—metal batteries which are manufactured at present. Lithium-vanadium oxide batteries are being researched and developed. Furthermore, electrolytes, electrolyte additives and lithium surface treatments are being studied to improve safety and recharge-ability. 

The early literature (until 1982) is summarized in Refs. [1] and [2], Hundreds of papers have been published since then (most of them in since 1994) and it is impossible to summarize all of them here. The Proceedings of the conferences mentioned above are good, sources of recent developments though sometimes incomplete. Since the early 1980s new systems have been introduced. The most important of these are lithium-ion batteries (which have lithiated carbonaceous anodes) and polymer-electrolyte batteries. Until 1991 very little was published on the Li/polymer-electrolyte interface [3, 4], The application of the SEI model to Li-PE batteries is ad-... 

Lithium metal had few uses until after World War II, when thermonuclear weapons were developed (see Section 17.11). This application has had an effect on the molar mass of lithium. Because only lithium-6 could be used in these weapons, the proportion of lithium-7 and, as a result, the molar mass of commercially available lithium has increased. A growing application of lithium is in the rechargeable lithium-ion battery. Because lithium has the most negative standard potential of all the elements, it can produce a high potential when used in a galvanic cell. Furthermore, because lithium has such a low density, lithium-ion batteries are light. 

At the end of the 1990s in Japan, large-scale production of rechargeable lithium ion batteries was initiated. These contained lithium compounds intercalated into oxide materials (positive electrodes) as well as into graphitic materials (negative electrode). The development of these batteries initiated a further increase in investigations of the properties of different intercalation compounds and of the mechanism of intercalation and deintercalation processes. 

There is no question that the development and commercialization of lithium ion batteries in recent years is one of the most important successes of modem electrochemistiy. Recent commercial systems for power sources show high energy density, improved rate capabilities and extended cycle life. The major components in most of the commercial Li-ion batteries are graphite electrodes, LiCo02 cathodes and electrolyte solutions based on mixtures of alkyl carbonate solvents, and LiPF6 as the salt.1 The electrodes for these batteries always have a composite structure that includes a metallic current collector (usually copper or aluminum foil/grid for the anode and cathode, respectively), the active mass comprises micrometric size particles and a polymeric binder. 

Five years ago, we were considering that these electrochemical data were enough to define if an active material would be a good candidate for lithium-ion batteries. Based on this understanding, Superior Graphite developed its LBG grades. 

SLC1015 is what Superior Graphite has developed in order to provide lithium-ion battery market with reduced surface area graphite. 

The above success of SLC product line indicates that design parameters taken as targets for development meet expectations of the lithium-ion battery application. 

Barsukov I.V. Development of low-cost, carbonaceous materials for anodes in lithium-ion batteries - Superior Graphite Co. Snapshots of CARAT (Cooperative Automotive Research for Advanced Technology) Projects. Publication of Office of FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies, EERE, U.S. Department of Energy, 5/2003, 22-23. 

F. Henry, I. Barsukov, J. Doninger, S. Anderson, P. Booth, P. Zaleski, R. Girkant, D. Derwin, M. Gallego, T. Huerta and G. Uribe. New Developments in the Advanced Graphite for Lithium-Ion Batteries - in this book. 

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