Cathode materials for rechargeable lithium batteries: Recent progress and future prospects

To reach the modern demand of high efficiency energy sources for electric vehicles and electronic devices, it is become desirable and challenging to develop advance lithium ion batteries (LIBs) with high energy capacity, power density, and structural stability. Among various parts of LIBs, cathode material is heaviest component which account almost 41% of whole cell and also majorly decides the performance of battery. Especially, after the award of 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the development of LIBs, it is illuminating to recall at the evolution of the cathode chemistry which made the modern lithium-ion technology realistic. Moreover, efficiency of positive electrodes further balanced by safety, cyclic stability, rate capability and cost of electrode material. Furthermore, electrochemical properties of materials are directly connected with porosity, structure type and morphology, which can be tuned by various strategies. Herein, we summarized recent literatures on the properties and limitations of various types of cathode materials for LIBs, such as Layered transition metal oxides, spinel oxides, polyanion compounds, conversion-type cathode and organic cathodes materials. This review promotes a deeper understanding towards their electrochemical properties and cyclic efficiency of materials with crystal structure of cathodes. Recent advantages and future prospects of cathode materials towards the exploration of future-generation LIBs have also been highlighted in this review, aiming to remarkably reduce the cost and enhance the efficiency of future LIBs, which may revolutionize the transportation way and various aspects of our lives.