In 1970, M.S. Whittingham of Exxon used titanium sulfide as the positive electrode material and metallic lithium as the negative electrode material to make the first lithium battery.
In 1980, J. Goodenough discovered that lithium cobalt oxide can be used as the positive electrode material of lithium-ion batteries.
In 1982, R.R. Agarwal and J.R. Selman of the Illinois Institute of Technology discovered that lithium ions have the property of embedding in graphite, and this process is fast and reversible. At the same time, the safety hazards of lithium batteries made of metallic lithium have attracted much attention, so people have tried to use the property of lithium ions embedded in graphite to make rechargeable batteries. The first usable lithium-ion graphite electrode was successfully trial-produced by Bell Laboratories.
In 1983, M. Thackeray, J. Goodenough and others discovered that manganese spinel is an excellent positive electrode material with low price, stability and excellent electrical and lithium conductivity. Its decomposition temperature is high, and its oxidizing property is much lower than that of lithium cobalt oxide. Even if short circuit or overcharge occurs, the danger of combustion and explosion can be avoided.
In 1989, A. Manthiram and J. Goodenough found that the positive electrode with polymerized anions will produce higher voltage.
In 1991, Sony released the first commercial lithium-ion battery. Subsequently, lithium-ion batteries revolutionized the appearance of consumer electronics.
In 1996, Padhi and Goodenough found that phosphates with olivine structure, such as lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4), are superior to traditional positive electrode materials, and therefore have become the current mainstream positive electrode materials.
With the widespread use of digital products such as mobile phones and laptops, lithium-ion batteries have been widely used in such products with their excellent performance, and are gradually developing into other product application fields.
In 1998, Tianjin Power Supply Research Institute began commercial production of lithium-ion batteries.
On July 15, 2018, it was learned from the Keda Coal Chemistry Research Institute that a special carbon negative electrode material for high-capacity and high-density lithium batteries with pure carbon as the main component was launched in the institute. This lithium battery made of new materials can achieve a car range of over 600 kilometers.
In October 2018, the research group of Professor Liang Jiajie and Chen Yongsheng of Nankai University and the research group of Lai Chao of Jiangsu Normal University successfully prepared a silver nanowire-graphene three-dimensional porous carrier with a multi-level structure and loaded metal lithium as a composite negative electrode material. This carrier can inhibit the generation of lithium dendrites, thereby achieving ultra-high-speed charging of the battery, which is expected to significantly extend the "life" of lithium batteries. The research results were published in the latest issue of Advanced Materials [2]. In the first half of 2022, the main indicators of China's lithium-ion battery industry achieved rapid growth, with output exceeding 280 GWh, a year-on-year increase of 150%.
On the morning of September 22, 2022, the first domestic 3.0-meter diameter new energy lithium battery copper foil core equipment cathode roller product independently developed and delivered to users by the Fourth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation was launched in Xi'an, filling the domestic industry technology gap and achieving a monthly production capacity of large-diameter cathode rollers exceeding 100 units, marking a major breakthrough in China's ultra-large diameter cathode roller manufacturing technology.