A sustainable future for batteries

A panel of leading global experts working at the forefront of battery research and applications shares insights into how further development of this critical energy technology can effectively integrate sustainability principles.

Having transformed our way of life, rechargeable batteries are poised for exponential growth over the coming decade, notably due to the wider adoption of electric vehicles. An international expert panel proposes a combination of vision, innovation and practice for feasible pathways toward sustainable batteries.

Today’s energy systems rely on rechargeable batteries but the growing demand raises environmental concerns. As more data become available, sensing can play a key role in advancing utilization strategies for new and used lithium-ion devices. This Review discusses how optical sensors can help to improve the sustainability of batteries.

Zinc batteries are more sustainable than the currently dominating lithium technologies, but their major technical problems have yet to be fully resolved. Now a new electrolyte formulation addresses most issues and delivers rechargeable zinc batteries with both performance breakthrough and cost advantage.

Both lithium- and sodium-ion batteries could play an important role in combating climate change, but they often suffer structural instabilities in the cathodes, which degrade performance. Now a study on two cathode materials that function in either battery type sheds light on how their structure should be designed to suppress these instabilities.

The potential lithium crisis and supply shortages of other metals essential for lithium-ion batteries have driven innovation in alternative technologies. Now a study describes high-performance potassium-ion batteries that can cycle for more than 500 days with negligible performance loss.

Aqueous Zn batteries offer safety, but the Zn anodes are vulnerable to dendrite failure and side reaction. Here the authors show a low-cost electrolyte that involves hydrate salt and organic solvent but proves inflammable. The Zn battery cell delivers excellent performance even at a low temperature of −30 °C.

Favoured cathodes for batteries should include abundant and redox-active elements, such as manganese. Here the authors report a Na_0.6Li_0.2Mn_0.8O₂ cathode design featuring a unique layer stacking sequence that provides topological protection to oxygen redox to overcome the performance fading.

Aqueous potassium-ion batteries have emerged as a more sustainable technology to complement lithium-ion counterparts. Ge et al. engineer the surface of a potassium manganese hexacyanoferrate cathode material, achieving unprecedented electrochemical performance in full K-ion cells.

Tax heavy cars and shrink batteries to consolidate the gains from electrifying transport.

The defossilization of our economy requires that materials for renewable energy conversion technologies are themselves green, renewable and circular. To this end, components such as batteries, electronic devices and electric motors should be recycled and regenerated, and produced solely from secondary raw materials.

Proposed new regulations for the European battery industry could end up making the electrification of transport harder — and reveal the complexity of creating sustainable markets.

The rapid growth of lithium-ion batteries in many markets makes it increasingly urgent to address recycling of strategic materials from spent batteries.

Renewable energy technologies do not always employ sustainable resources. The scarcity of cobalt supply must be addressed in transportation electrification.

Energy storage using batteries offers a solution to the intermittent nature of energy production from renewable sources; however, such technology must be sustainable. This Review discusses battery development from a sustainability perspective, considering the energy and environmental costs of state-of-the-art Li-ion batteries and the design of new systems beyond Li-ion. Images: batteries, car, globe: © iStock/Thinkstock.

Processes for dismantling and recycling lithium-ion battery packs from scrap electric vehicles are outlined.

This Perspective discussed the best practices for reporting lab-scale performance metrics in battery papers.

Sodium batteries are promising candidates for mitigating the supply risks associated with lithium batteries. This Review compares the two technologies in terms of fundamental principles and specific materials, and assesses the performance of commercial prototype sodium cells.

Inorganic–polymer composites have emerged as viable solid electrolytes for the mass production of solid-state batteries. In this Review, we examine the properties and design of inorganic–polymer composite electrolytes, discuss the processing technologies for multilayer and multiphase composite structures, and outline the challenges of integrating composite electrolytes into solid-state batteries.

Layered oxide compounds with anion redox are among the most promising positive electrode materials for next-generation Li-ion batteries. In this Review, we discuss the thermodynamics and kinetics of the proposed redox mechanisms, and the implications of these mechanisms for designing engineering strategies to achieve stable anion redox.

This Review summarizes the current nanoscale understanding of the interface chemistries between solid state electrolytes and electrodes for future all solid state batteries.

The ever-increasing applications for Li-ion batteries in markets call for environmentally friendly and energy-efficient recycling technologies. Here the authors report using a deep eutectic solvent to extract valuable components of Li-ion batteries.

Recovery of metals from Li-ion batteries is a key for sustainability. Here the authors demonstrate a Li-ion cell recycling process via selective electrochemical Co and Ni recovery by controlling the electrode interface and the electrolyte.

Various battery recycling processes exist, but the related environmental and economic implications can vary by specific battery chemistry. This study examines the greenhouse gas emissions, energy inputs and costs associated with producing and recycling lithium-ion cells with different cathode chemistries.

New battery chemistry can help reduce the reliance on Co for electric vehicles. However, to avoid burden shifting to other resources such as Ni, circular economy strategies with enhanced battery traceability and recycling could contribute substantially to the reduction of primary Co demand from the automotive industry.

An affordable, safe, and scalable battery system is presented, which uses organic polymers as the charge-storage material in combination with inexpensive dialysis membranes and an aqueous sodium chloride solution as the electrolyte.

A solid–electrolyte interphase that is permeable to Zn(ii) ions but waterproof is formed using an aqueous electrolyte composition. Cycling performances in an anode-free aqueous pouch cell show promise for intrinsically safe energy storage applications.

The shuttling effect in Li–S batteries can be drastically suppressed by using a single-atom Co catalyst and polar ZnS nanoparticles embedded in a macroporous conductive matrix as a cathode. Using this strategy, Li–S pouch cells show stable cycling and high energy performances.

By coordinating copper ions with the oxygen-containing groups of cellulose nanofibrils, the molecular spacing in the nanofibrils is increased, allowing fast transport of lithium ions and offering hopes for solid-state batteries.

The applicability of organic materials in conventional Li-ion batteries is challenging owing to the lack of lithium-containing and air-stable cathodes. A class of conjugated sulfonamides to be used as lithium-ion positive electrodes is now shown to exhibit reversible charge storage.

Stable inorganic solid electrolytes are instrumental in developing high-voltage Li metal batteries. Here, the authors present the synthesis and electrochemical energy storage properties of a cost-effective and humidity-tolerant chloride solid electrolyte.

Nickel-rich layered oxide cathodes are at the forefront of the development of automobile batteries. The authors report an atomic and microstructural engineering design for a Li[Ni_0.90Co_0.09Ta_0.01]O₂ cathode that exhibits outstanding long-term cyclability and high energy at full depth of discharge in full cells.

High-entropy ceramics are solid solutions offering compositional flexibility and wide variety of applicability. High-entropy concepts are shown to lead to substantial performance improvement in cation-disordered rocksalt-type cathodes for Li-ion batteries.

Sodium ion batteries could be an attractive alternative to Li-ion technology but designing high energy density and moisture stable Na-based cathodes is challenging. Adjusting synthesis conditions and stoichiometry, an O3-type NaLi_1/3Mn_2/3O₂ phase with anionic redox activity is reported.

High-energy batteries require electrolytes with a wide electrochemical stability window. Building on the water-in-salt electrolyte concept, the authors develop a ternary eutectic electrolyte with substantially reduced salt concentrations that enable high-performance Li_1.5Mn₂O₄ || Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ batteries

Lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide is used as a conducting salt for rechargeable lithium metal batteries because of its stability, but corrosion with aluminium current collectors is an issue. A non-corrosive sulfonimide salt is shown to suppress anodic dissolution of an Al current collector at high potentials while improving cycling.

Ternary layered oxides dominate the current automobile batteries but suffer from material scarcity and operational safety. Here the authors report that, when operating at around 60 °C, a low-cost lithium iron phosphate-based battery exhibits ultra-safe, fast rechargeable and long-lasting properties.

All-solid-state lithium-ion batteries provide improved safety but typically suffer from high cost and low volumetric energy density. An electrolyte melt-infiltration approach offering reduced manufacturing costs and improved volumetric energy density in all solid cells is proposed.

The field of battery chemistry must embrace abundant elements such as Mn for improved sustainability. Here the authors engineer the orientation of Mn 3d orbitals, resulting in excellent performance in LiMnO₂ cathodes.