Cathode materials of metal-ion batteries for low-temperature applications

Energy storage devices have been developed greatly in recent years. Developing forward, they are expected to operate stably in electric vehicles, electric grids, military equipment, and aerospaces in various climates. Unfortunately, these areas require batteries to be repeatedly and periodically exposed to sub-zero temperatures, even extremely low temperatures (−40 °C or lower). The low temperature reduces the kinetics of all the activation processes of the batteries, leading to increased impedance and polarization, and loss of battery energy and power, thus restricting their performance. Developing new cathode materials is one of the main strategies to alleviate the low-temperature restrictions. A conventional lithium-ion battery is the most attractive system, which is more adaptive to the practical low-temperature application now. Sodium-ion batteries, magnesium-ion batteries, and zinc-ion batteries, which have the advantages of low cost and high safety, are considered potential substitutes for lithium-ion batteries, the electrochemical performance of these batteries at low-temperature has been conducted extensively. This review provides an overview of lithium-ion batteries, sodium-ion batteries, magnesium-ion batteries, and zinc-ion batteries that can work normally in low-temperature environments, with emphasis on various high-energy cathode materials, mainly including polyanionic compounds, layered oxides, spinel oxides, Prussian blue, and Prussian blue analogs. Specifically, we propose how the conventional low-temperature charge-transfer resistance can be overcome. However, these chemistries also present their own unique challenges at low temperatures. This article discusses the advantages and disadvantages of these materials, as well as the main challenges and strategies for applying them to batteries at low temperatures so that the batteries can still discharge efficiently.