Powder Coatings via Atomic Layer Deposition for Batteries: A Review

Rechargeable batteries have emerged as the most promising energy storage devices in response to continually growing modern demands and are still being researched to attain higher energy densities, structural stability, and longer cycling and calendar life. Owing to the fact that battery electrodes are developed from various types of powders, incorporation of functional nanocoating of suitable materials on powder materials and/or nanosynthesis of active powder constituents have shown promising results regarding the aforementioned challenges associated with modern battery technology. Atomic layer deposition (ALD) has been demonstrated to be highly effective in fabricating inorganic films even at the subnanoscale, not only on flat surfaces but also on individual particles with high conformity, uniformity, and self-limiting growth, thus providing exceptional control over film thickness. Unlike conventional wet-chemical processes, powder ALD offers a unique opportunity to develop nano- and subnanoscale films of various compositions over a variety of substrate particles regardless of their size, morphology, and composition. Proper modifications made by powder ALD process are known to induce improvements in structural stability, electronic and ionic conductivity at the interface, and consequent charge–discharge properties of the batteries. This review comprehensively covers the main strategies and materials used over time to improve the performance of various types of batteries utilizing the powder ALD process.