Pre-Lithiation Strategies and Energy Density Theory of Lithium-Ion and Beyond Lithium-Ion Batteries

Pre-lithiation is the most effective method to overcome the initial capacity loss of high-capacity electrodes and has the potential to be used in beyond-conventional lithium-ion batteries. In this article we focus on two types of pre-lithiation: the first type can be applied to batteries in which the cathode has been fully lithiated but the anode has a large initial capacity loss, such as batteries made with lithium metal oxide cathode and silicon-carbon anode. The second type can be applied to batteries in which both electrodes are initially lithium-free and suffer a loss of lithium during the initial cycles, such as batteries made with sulfurized-polyacrylonitrile cathode and silicon-carbon anode. We describe the pre-lithiation procedures and electrode potential profiles during pre-lithiation corresponding to different pre-lithiation sources for both types of pre-lithiation. We also derive formulas for the theoretical specific energy and energy density that are based entirely on measurable parameters such as specific capacities, porosities, mass densities of two electrodes and extra lithium source, Coulombic efficiencies of electrodes, and the voltage of the cell. These formulas can be applied to different pre-lithiation sources to predict the specific energy of conventional and beyond-conventional lithium-ion batteries as a function of the type of pre-lithiation.