Recent Developments in Electrode Materials for Lithium-Ion Batteries for Energy Storage Application

Lithium-ion battery is a promising energy storage solution for effective use of renewable energy sources due to higher volumetric and gravimetric energy density. The advancement of lithium-ion battery technology in terms of energy, power density, cost, safety, operating temperature, and charging/discharging cycle life depends on performance of electrode materials: cathode, anode, and electrolyte. While graphite or hard carbon is mainly used as anode, three types of cathode chemistry, (i) lithium transition metal layered oxide, (ii) derivatives of spinel LiMn2O4, and (iii) phospho-olivine, are used in the commercial lithium-ion batteries. Modifications such as composition, protective coating, doping, and morphological tailoring had continuously led into the enhanced performance of the active materials and are further expected to improve. Continuous efforts in development of new class of materials such as conversion and alloying electrode materials are being carried out in order to improve energy and power density of lithium-ion batteries. In this chapter we will be discussing the recent development of traditional cathode and anode materials like graphite, hard carbon, lithium transition metal layered oxide, and derivatives of spinel LiMn2O4, LiFePO4, and new class of active materials.