Prelithiation: A Critical Strategy Towards Practical Application of High-Energy-Density Batteries

To meet the demand for high-energy-density batteries, alloy-type and conversion-type anode materials have attracted growing attention due to their high specific capacity. However, the huge irreversible lithium loss during initial cycling significantly reduces the energy density of the full cell, which limits their practical applications. Fortunately, various anode prelithiation techniques have been developed to compensate for the initial lithium loss. At the same time, the cathode prelithiation has been proposed and demonstrated remarkable enhancement in the electrochemical performance, along with excellent scalability and compatibility with the existing battery production processes. Here, recent advances are reviewed in the prelithiation of both anodes and cathodes, and the key challenges are discussed in front of their practical applications. It is aimed to provide better recommendations and assistance for its large-scale practical applications.