Inorganic materials for the negative electrode of lithium-ion batteries: state-of-the-art and future prospects

The development of advanced rechargeable batteries for efficient energy storage finds one of its keys in the lithium-ion concept. The optimization of the Li-ion technology urgently needs improvement for the active material of the negative electrode, and many recent papers in the field support this tendency. Moreover, the diversity in the chemical nature of the materials studied so far requires a systematization work to be done to envisage the main guidelines for research and future progress areas. This review starts with an analysis of the major advantages and drawbacks of the lithium metal electrode that led to the development of the Li-ion concept. The successful carbon-based materials, including numerous forms of both natural and anthropogenic origins are then mentioned. Attention is paid to the materials prepared from side products of the petroleum industry. Then, the central part of the report concerns alternative possibilities that have emerged from the use of tin, antimony and other elements that reversibly form alloys and compounds with lithium. The systematic study takes into account the chemical nature of the elements directly involved in the reversible reactions with lithium. Thus, tin and other group 14 elements, pnictides, and oxides are summarized in three consecutive sections. In the first section, particular attention will be paid to tin oxides and phosphates and the "SnSb" compounds serves as a link with the next section. Among the metal pnictides, compounds such as CoSb3 and CrSb2, are described as precursors of the electroactive material in a dispersing matrix. Also phosphides, such as CoP3 and MnP4, are also discussed, the latter having interesting intercalation reactions with lithium. Finally, the recently revised field of using transition metal oxides that allow a reversible Li2O formation on cycling is discussed. In each section, several materials evaluated in our laboratory are included. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.