Low-Cost Metallic Anode Materials for High Performance Rechargeable Batteries

The ever-growing market of portable electronic devices and electric vehicles has significantly stimulated research interests on new-generation rechargeable battery systems with high energy density, satisfying safety and low cost. With unique potentials to achieve high energy density and low cost, rechargeable batteries based on metal anodes are capable of storing more energy via an alloying/de-alloying process, in comparison to traditional graphite anodes via an intercalation/de-intercalation process. However, the drawbacks of metal anodes such as high initial capacity loss and short cycling life need to be solved before commercialization. Herein, we mainly dedicate the attention on recent progresses in the metallic materials (e.g., Al, Sn, Mg, Zn, Sb and Bi) which have the best likelihood of being applied in commercial batteries and the advanced modification strategies including nanosizing, composite design, and alloy/intermetallic construction for better battery performance. In addition, the investigations of such metal anodes in some new battery systems such as sodium-ion batteries, aluminum-ion batteries, zinc-ion batteries, magnesium-ion batteries, and dual-ion batteries are further briefly reviewed.