In the traditional battery operation, a considerable amount of Li+ ions are lost during the first charge, which is attributed to the formation of a solid electrolyte interface (SEI) which is unfortunately irreversible. This irreversible Li+ ion can vary from 10-50 % in the case of intercalation (graphite) and alloying (Si/Ge/Sn) based material. Formation of SEI results in low initial coulombic efficiency and lower energy density while constructing the full cell. To overcome these issues, one of the significant attempts is to use the pre-lithiated anode to compensate for the initial Li loss during the initial SEI formation and form a stable SEI for better columbic efficiency and to attain high energy density.

Pre-lithiation can be broadly classified into four types: a) Chemical pre-lithiation: b) Electrochemical pre-lithiation, c) Direct contact with lithium, d) Use of additives, e) Thermal and mechanical. All the approaches are restricted to the academic interest and thus challenging to employ for large-scale implications for industries. The electrochemical approach has been considered a potential to obtain pre-lithiation and has been successfully commercialized by a Japanese company named JM Energy. Synthesis of pre-lithiation additives has gained much attention as they can be easily adapted by the industries during the slurry preparation and thus do not hinder the commercial process. In another case, Nanoscale Components Inc., a US-based company, developed a roll-to-roll pre-lithiation process, showing promising results. To overcome these drawbacks, researchers need to find an alternative synthesis approach to obtain air-stable pre-lithium additives which can be directly used during the electrode preparation. Thus, the development of the large-scale synthesis of pre-lithiation additives has been critical for the next-generation lithium-ion battery with high energy density.

Can pre-Lithiating reagents address the irreversible capacity of anode materials during the first few cycles?

When it comes to electric vehicles, one of the significant challenges in Li-ion batteries is the slow charging process in conventional graphite-based batteries, as graphite has a shallow working potential which can initiate the growth of dendrite and may cause lithium plating at high current rates. Thus, Materials scientists have been looking for an alternative anode material that can withstand high currents for a long duration without affecting their structural properties. In recent times, Niobium-based oxides have been considered as one of the promising materials which can solve the issues due to their rich redox chemistry.

According to the literature, numerous research group has been working on A-Nb–oxide-based material, which can be charged at very high current density. This type of material can be the solution for applications requiring fast charging. Thus the dream of charging our vehicles/cell phones in a minute can be a reality.!

Stay tuned for more updates.