Exploration and Application of Self‐Healing Strategies in Lithium Batteries

Abstract

Lithium batteries (LBs) are developed tremendously owing to their excellent energy density as well as cyclic persistence, exhibiting promising applications from portable devices to e‐transportation and grid fields. However, with the ever‐increasing demand for intelligent wearable electronics, more requests are focused on high safety, good durability, and satisfied reliability of LBs. The self‐healing route, which can simulate the ability of organic organisms to repair damage and recover initial function through its intrinsic vitality, is believed to be an efficient strategy to alleviate the unavoidable physical or chemical fatigue and damage issues of LBs, beneficial for the realization of the above mentioned high requests. In this review, the applicability and development of self‐healing materials are summarized in electrodes, electrolytes, and interfacial layers in recent years, focusing on exploring the feasibility of different self‐healing strategies in LBs, discussing the advantages and disadvantages of existing strategies in different parts of batteries, and indicating the possible research directions for beginners who are interested in this field. Finally, the critical challenges and the future research directions as well as opportunities are prospected.

Synergistic Strategy Using Doping and Polymeric Coating Enables High-Performance High-Nickel Layered Cathodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries

“…Human energy consumption is rising annually as industrialization picks up speed, and the energy crisis has increasingly become the major obstacle restricting countries worldwide from achieving technological breakthroughs. − Due to the sustainability of energy transmission and distribution, electrical energy storage (EES) has gained recognition as a technology that can successfully address these challenges. Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are being developed increasingly in the direction of high-performance battery systems with high specific energy, high power density, high safety, and long cycle life as an emerging high-efficiency and clean energy storage device. − The cathode material, which is a crucial component of LIBs, is what primarily determines the electrochemical performance of LIBs, including energy density, cycling stability, and preparation cost. One of the keys to promote the practical application of high-specific energy LIBs is the development of high-performance cathode materials. , …”

Multiscale Micro‐Nano Hierarchical Porous Germanium with Self‐Adaptive Stress Dispersion for Highly Robust Lithium‐Ion Batteries Anode

“…However, as the cycling continues, the capacity of Ge NPs rapidly decay, which is probably due to the electrochemical sintering. [ 40 ] To further investigate the degradation mechanisms of the p‐Ge and Ge NPs anodes, the differential discharge plots were calculated from galvanostatic cycling curves for 200 cycles (Figure S20, Supporting Information). The differential discharge plots (lithiation) consisted of three reduction peaks, which is in good agreement with the anodic scan in the CV curves.…”

New Emerging Fast Charging Microscale Electrode Materials

“…especially for the high-capacity alloy-and conversion-type electrode materials, such as Si, [284] Li, [285] P, [286] Al, [287] and S. [288] Cracking and fracture of electrode materials caused by diffusion induced stress (DIS) and massive anisotropic volume changes under high charge and discharge rates have been identified as one of the main reasons for the insufficient cycle life and capacity of batteries. [289,290] Specifically, compared with the insertion-type electrode materials that undergo small volume changes (<10%), the highcapacity electrochemistry involves multielectron redox and drastic phase transfer and is more likely to lead to structural collapse. [14] The generation of the microcracks can cause electrical contact failure and increased kinetic barriers, which can negatively impact electrochemical performance and cell safety.…”

“…Apart from the rate capability and high energy density, ensuring the robust cycling stability of batteries intended for practical applications is of paramount importance, [ 283 ] especially for the high‐capacity alloy‐ and conversion‐type electrode materials, such as Si, [ 284 ] Li, [ 285 ] P, [ 286 ] Al, [ 287 ] and S. [ 288 ] Cracking and fracture of electrode materials caused by diffusion induced stress (DIS) and massive anisotropic volume changes under high charge and discharge rates have been identified as one of the main reasons for the insufficient cycle life and capacity of batteries. [ 289,290 ]…”