High-efficiency sacrificial prelithiation of lithium-ion capacitors with superior energy-storage performance

Abstract Lithium-ion capacitor consists of a capacitor-type cathode (typically activated carbon) and a lithium ion battery-type anode (typically graphite), which can deliver high-power density than lithium ion battery and high-energy density than supercapacitor. However, the lack of lithium sources in this configuration requires additional prelithiation to replenish lithium ions. In this work, for the first time, Li3N is employed as a sacrificial prelithiation material to supply lithium ions into anode in the initial charging process to avoid the involvement of metallic lithium electrode. Moreover, the LIC pouch based on commercial soft carbon anode and activated carbon/Li3N cathode presents a capacitance retention of 91% after 10,000 cycles and delivers a maximum energy density of 74.7 Wh/kg and a maximum power density of 12.9 kW/kg.