ABSTRACT
Increased use of renewable energy resources is an important global responsibility to reduce the dependence on dwindling fossil reserves for energy production. Potentially viable existing renewable technologies such as solar, wind, and tidal have significant limitations in the uncertainty of energy delivery due to weather fluctuations. Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have attracted much attention on energy storage due to their high energy density and long cycle life for increasing demand of portable electric devices, electric vehicles (EVs), hybrid 166electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), and grid energy storage system. 1 , 2 However, to meet the high demands in large-scale energy storage needs such as PHEV, renewable energy management, and power grid applications, battery technologies need to overcome many daunting challenges in order to significantly increase the energy and power capacities as well as safety and lifetime 3 , 4 improved output power, lower weight, and lower costs. These performance parameters are determined by numerous degrees of freedom, from chemical and structural details of the used materials up to the cell design and processing. Since intercalation compounds are used as the electrode material instead of metallic lithium, the molecular structure of the electrode and the position and amount of interstitial Li incorporated into the electrodes’ molecular lattice are critical in understanding battery operation and performance.
