A Review of Lithium-Ion Battery Capacity Decline, Safety Concerns, and Potential Mitigation Strategies

The transportation sector accounts for around 25% of global energy-related carbon emissions, and their impact is expected to grow in the coming years. As a means of mitigating carbon footprint, motor industries have explored vehicle designs using renewable, zero-emission energy sources, such as lithium-ion batteries. Although widely employed, the current iteration of Lithium-ion batteries (LIB) suffers from high-capacity loss over time and safety risks. Capacity loss is attributed to active lithium-ion loss and electrolyte depletion due to forming a solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) on the anode and internal resistance growth due to electrolyte corrosion. On the other hand, safety concerns center around the potential for thermal runaway during battery operation. The sources of these issues will be discussed in this review, along with mitigation strategies that may optimize both factors simultaneously. Possible strategies include exploring alternative anode materials, including Silicon and Tin, optimizing separator parameters, utilizing prelithiation methods, and introducing cooling systems into LIB design.