Hybrid Materials for Batteries

The key components of a battery are: anode, cathode and electrolyte. Pseudo key components include binder, conductive agent and a separator. The battery performance, energy density and cost are associated with all components of the battery. In spite of some good materials at the commercialization level, there is no ideal material (high energy density, good performance, low cost and safe) for any rechargeable battery as of now. For example, high capacity or energy density materials (e.g.: lithium rich metal oxides, metal fluorides, sulfur and silicon) are experiencing a lot of issues (e.g.: volume expansion, phase transformations) and their optimization is costing a lot. Liquid electrolytes are not safe, and solid electrolytes have lower ionic conductivities, high interfacial resistance and their processing is a challenging task. Commonly used binders (e.g., PVDF and PTFE) are nonconductive and can undergo decomposition and also react with the active materials, leading to aging and safety issues. Similarly, commonly used separators can decompose or react with other components in the battery at higher temperatures. It is difficult for a single battery material to meet the requirements for future energy needs, and it's time to focus on hybrid materials and/or structurally and electrochemically stabilized compositions for high energy density batteries with supreme performances.