Hierarchically Nanostructured Electrode Materials for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Abstract

This chapter introduces readers to a new kind of hierarchically nanostructured electrode materials for lithium-ion batteries. It explores the basic working principle of a typical lithium-ion battery as well as each component in the battery, and the materials used for fabricating the battery electrodes. The chapter discusses both advantages and disadvantages in the use of nanomaterials and makes a comparison between nanomaterials and their micron-scale counterparts. Lithium-ion batteries are important types of secondary batteries in which lithium ions keep traveling back and forth between the anode and the cathode through the electrolyte in charging/discharging cycles, thus gaining the name "rocking chair batteries". Graphite is the first kind of anode material for commercial lithium-ion batteries, and it is widely used. However, the co-intercalation of solvents such as propylene carbonate during lithium insertion may lead to the decomposition and intensive exfoliation of graphene sheets. Lithium phosphates with an olivine structure have attracted extensive interests as potential cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries.