The development process of lithium batteries

In 1970, M.S. Whittingham of Exxon used titanium sulfide as the cathode material and lithium metal as the anode material to make the first lithium battery.

In 1980, J. Goodenough discovered that lithium cobalt oxide could be used as a cathode material for 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 graphite, a process that is fast and reversible. At the same time, the safety hazards of lithium batteries made of lithium metal have attracted much attention, so people have tried to make rechargeable batteries using the characteristics of lithium ions embedded in graphite. The first available lithium-ion graphite electrode was successfully produced by Bell Laboratories.

In 1983, M. Thackeray, J. Goodenough and others discovered that manganese spinel is an excellent cathode material with low price, stability and excellent conductive and lithium conductivity. Its high decomposition temperature and oxidation are much lower than lithium cobalt oxide, which can avoid the danger of combustion and explosion even if there is a short circuit or overcharge.

In 1989, A. Manthiram and J. Goodenough discovered that cathodes with polyanions would produce higher safety.

In 1991, Sony released the first commercial lithium-ion battery. Subsequently, lithium-ion batteries revolutionized the face of consumer electronics.

In 1996, Padhi and Goodenough discovered that phosphates with olivine structures, such as lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4), have superiority over traditional cathode materials, so they have become the current mainstream cathode 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 excellent performance, and are gradually developing into other product application fields.

In 1998, Tianjin Power 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 anode material for high-capacity high-density lithium batteries with pure carbon as the main component was launched in the institute, and this lithium battery prepared from a new material can achieve a car cruising range of more than 600 kilometers.

In October 2018, the research group of Professor Liang Jiajie and Chen Yongsheng of Nankai University and Lai Chao's group of Jiangsu Normal University successfully prepared a three-dimensional porous support of silver nanowire-graphene with a multi-level structure, and loaded lithium metal as a composite anode material. This carrier can inhibit the production of lithium dendrites, so as to achieve ultra-high-speed battery charging, which is expected to greatly extend the "life" of lithium batteries. The research results were published in the latest issue of Advanced Materials.
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 new cathode roller with a diameter of 3.0 meters in China, independently developed by the Fourth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation and qualified to deliver to users, was launched in Xi'an, filling the technical gap in the domestic industry and achieving a monthly production capacity of large-diameter cathode rollers to exceed 100 units, marking a major breakthrough in China's ultra-large diameter cathode roller manufacturing technology.

In December 2024, according to the lithium battery industry specification announcement enterprise information and industry association estimates, the total national lithium battery output from January to October was 890 GWh, a year-on-year increase of 16%. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the profit of China's lithium battery manufacturing industry increased by 39.4% year-on-year from January to October.

In 2024, the National Standards Committee will newly approve and release 161 mandatory national standards for safety such as gas safety and lithium batteries for electric bicycles, doubling from 2023. In addition, more than 5,500 local standards were abolished and revised.

On January 13, 2025, at the press conference of the State Council Information Office, the relevant person in charge of the General Administration of Customs introduced that China's lithium battery exports in 2024 will reach 3.91 billion, a record high.

In February 2025, Peng Huisheng/Gao Yue's team from the Department of Polymer Science of Fudan University provided a new path to innovatively design a lithium carrier molecule, which can be injected into waste or attenuated lithium batteries in the form of a "shot" like a drug, accurately replenishing the lost lithium ions and achieving capacity recovery, thereby greatly extending the life of the battery. On February 13, Beijing time, the relevant results were published in the international academic journal "Nature".

On March 16, 2025, it was learned from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences that the ultra-low temperature and high specific energy lithium battery developed by the team of researcher Chen Zhongwei of the Power Battery and System Research Department (DNL29) of the Institute of Nuclear Power Battery and System was successfully tested in the extremely cold environment of minus 36 degrees Celsius in the Mohe River. This power supply is expected to provide strong power support for polar scientific research, border patrol, disaster rescue, logistics and transportation, etc.