Failure modes and mechanisms for rechargeable Lithium-based batteries: a state-of-the-art review

The Li-ion battery (LiB) is regarded as one of the most popular energy storage devices for a wide variety of applications. Since their commercial inception in the 1990s, LiBs have dominated the consumer market of portable electronic devices, especially for laptops, cell phones, and many medical devices. As the transition of Li-ion batteries from being used in portable electronic devices to longer lifetime and more safety-critical applications, such as electric cars, electrically powered underwater vehicles, and aircrafts, the price of failure has become much more important in terms of both liability and cost (Hendricks et al. in J Power Sources 297:113–120, 2015). This paper reviews the current development and potential problems of Li-ion batteries, particularly focusing on the failure mechanism and its possible solutions of Li-ion batteries. It has been a general consensus that Li-ion batteries will continue to dominate the battery market in the foreseen future as a convenient electric power source. Finally, this paper provides authors’ perspectives on future directions and challenges on experimental and computational modeling aspects of Li-based battery researches, in particular, the failure analysis of Li-based batteries.