Stabilizing cathodes and interphases for next-generation Li-ion batteries

The past-30-year advances enable lithium (Li)-ion batteries to reshape our daily life from living, work and entertainment to transportation. Yet current Li-ion batteries cannot fulfill the boosting market needs. To build higher performance and lower-cost batteries, it is crucial to comprehend the fundamentals of battery chemistries and consider both electrodes, electrolyte, as well as their interphases, namely anode solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) and cathode solid electrolyte interphase (CEI). While many prior articles have focused on anodes and their SEIs, few reviews and analyses covered the materials and interfacial issues on the cathode side. Here we offer a critical overview of the current status and challenges for Li-ion battery cathodes and their CEIs. We discuss the impact of the CEI on both the intercalation and conversion-type cathode performance characteristics, summarize various strategies used for the CEI and cathode stabilizations, offer design guidelines and outline promising future directions for the development and applications for next-generation Li-ion batteries.