LAUSR

Lithium ion batteries (LIBs) have dominated portable electronics and are penetrating the markets of electric vehicles. Current electrode materials have specific capacities ranged only from 140 to 200 mAh g−1 for cathode and about 370 mAh g−1 for anode, which limit their energy densities. Alternatively, conversion compounds are regarded as a kind of high-energy density electrode materials for secondary ion batteries. However, these compounds suffer a severe voltage hysteresis and a poor cycling stability. These problems have been believed to be intrinsic nature of the conversion reaction chemistry, and the hope of using conversion reaction materials in the next-generation lithium batteries waned. As electrochemical properties are highly dependent on how these complicated reactions proceed, in situ investigation of the reaction pathways is of importance to understand their intrinsic reaction nature.