What is a lithium battery?

Lithium batteries are a class of batteries made of lithium metal or lithium alloy as the positive/negative electrode material and use a non-aqueous electrolyte solution. In 1912, lithium metal batteries were first proposed and studied by Gilbert N. Lewis. In the 70s of the 20th century, M. S. Whittingham proposed and began to study lithium-ion batteries. Due to the very active chemical properties of lithium metal, the processing, preservation and use of lithium metal have very high environmental requirements. With the development of science and technology, lithium batteries have become mainstream.

Lithium batteries can be broadly divided into two categories: lithium metal batteries and lithium-ion batteries. Lithium-ion batteries do not contain lithium in their metallic form and are rechargeable. The fifth generation of rechargeable batteries, lithium metal batteries, were born in 1996 and are better than lithium-ion batteries in terms of safety, specific capacity, self-discharge rate, and performance-price ratio. Due to its own high technical requirements, only a few companies in the country produce this lithium metal battery.

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. [11] On March 16, it was learned 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 of the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences was successfully tested in the extremely cold environment of minus 36 degrees Celsius in the Mohe River.