Kinetics of Ions in Post-Lithium Batteries

There is a technological necessity for more efficient, abundant, and sustainable materials for energy storage applications. Lithium-ion batteries dominate, however, there are a number of sustainability, economic, and availability issues that require the investigation of post-lithium batteries. In essence, the drive is to move to non-lithium-containing batteries as there is simply not enough lithium available to satisfy demand in a few years. To find alternative ions migrating at appropriate rates in crystal lattices requires significant research efforts and, in that respect, computational modeling can accelerate progress. The review considers recent mainly theoretical results highlighting the kinetics of ions in post-lithium oxides. It is proposed that there is a need for chemistries and ionic species that are sustainable and abundant and in that respect sodium, magnesium, and oxygen ion conduction in batteries is preferable to lithium. The limitations and promise of these systems are discussed in view of applications.