From Volta’s pile to lithium ion battery: 200 years of energy

Abstract The aim of this paper is to provide a historical and scientific overview of the battery world, from the disrupting discovery of Alessandro Volta to the latest advances in lithium ion batteries. For sake of clarity, it has been divided into three parts: the past, the present and the future. The first part illustrates the historical path which led to the lithium ion batteries. The second part reports the main challenges to the Li ion batteries that have been and still must be faced for increasing their performance and their sustainability. In the last part, considerations about the future of lithium ion batteries are discussed, with a special focus on sustainability.