Designing strategies of advanced electrode materials for high-rate rechargeable batteries

Abstract

Fast charging is considered to be a mainstream development area of rechargeable batteries with the exploitation of electric vehicle markets and portable electronics. Nevertheless, the limited range and long charging time of electric vehicles cause “range anxiety” for owners, which seriously hampers their widespread adoption. Because their performance is closely related to battery materials, structurally stable materials with high-rate performance and high specific capacity have become the key for the development of next-generation rechargeable batteries. This review provides an overview of advanced developed anode (Ti, Nb, carbon-based) and cathode (V-based and nitroxide radicals) materials and conductive polymer composite cathodes in rechargeable batteries in recent years and summarizes design strategies to achieve high-rate charging performance with long lifespans. The modified design strategies for overcoming the high-rate limitation of sluggish ion diffusion and low intrinsic conductivity mainly include surface coating, regulating morphology, creating defects, functionalizing group modification, chemical intercalating, and element doping. The development of charging protocols is also discussed. It is hoped that this review will provide practical information and guidance for the rational design of high-rate performance materials in the future.