This paper received an invitation to be featured as "Front Cover".
A low-level metallic lithium thermal prelithiation strategy has been developed for boosting the performance of SiO anode materials with aqueous slurry processability. This facile prelithiation method can alter the phase and crystalline size of lithium silicates by controlling the parameters such as lithium contents and processing temperatures. The prelithiated graphene-SiO composite anode material thus obtained under the optimized condition offers a high reversible capacity of 1062 mAh g−1 and the initial Coulombic efficiency of 80.8 %. Additionally, both the cycle life and cycling Coulombic efficiency are extremely stable, preserving over 90.3 % of the capacity after 200 cycles and more than 99.7 % of the efficiency on average during cycling. The significantly enhanced battery performance of the prelithiated SiO anode materials is owing to the size control of crystal silicon and Li2SiO3 phases. The existence of Li2Si2O5 and suppression of Li4SiO4 formation also guarantee homogeneous prelithiation results. This facile low-level prelithiation approach is remarkably effective to improve the initial Coulombic efficiency for commercial SiO anode materials and simultaneously maintain superior reversible capacity, cycle life, cycling efficiency, and aqueous slurry processability.
Update: This paper was highlighted as "Feature Paper" and "Editor's Choice".
To maximize the performance of energy storage systems more effectively, modern batteries/supercapacitors not only require high energy density but also need to be fully recharged within a short time or capable of high-power discharge for electric vehicles and power applications. Thus, how to improve the rate capability of batteries or supercapacitors is a very important direction of research and engineering. Making low-tortuous structures is an efficient means to boost power density without replacing materials or sacrificing energy density. In recent years, numerous manufacturing methods have been developed to prepare low-tortuous configurations for fast ion transportation, leading to impressive high-rate electrochemical performance. This review paper summarizes several smart manufacturing processes for making well-aligned 3D microstructures for batteries and supercapacitors. These techniques can also be adopted in other advanced fields that require sophisticated structural control to achieve superior properties.
The current mainstream energy storage systems are in urgent need of performance improvements to meet novel application requirements. In pursuit of a higher energy density in Li-ion and Na-ion batteries, the conventional electrode materials have reached the upper limit of their theoretical specific capacities. Hence, facile methods of reducing irreversible lithium-ion/sodium-ion loss are developed to further boost the battery energy density. Herein, we review studies that use polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons for wet chemical prelithiation and presodiation. The molecular structures of arenes and solvents used for solution-based prelithiation/presodiation have a substantial impact on the prelithiation/presodiation power and effectiveness. Multiple reports have already shown excellent initial Coulombic efficiency and streamlined processes by using this type of wet chemical prelithiation/presodiation strategy. This review article will cover how to select appropriate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon prelithiation/presodiation reagents for various materials/electrodes and provide possible directions and guidelines for future works.
