The Past and Present of Lithium Batteries — From the Laboratory to Millions of Homes

Today, lithium batteries occupy almost half of the rechargeable battery market, but their development is not achieved overnight. After decades of laboratory exploration and technological iteration, they have evolved from a scientific concept into a core device entering hundreds of millions of families.

The research and development of lithium batteries can be traced back to the 1970s, when British scientists first proposed the concept of lithium-ion intercalation compounds, laying a theoretical foundation for the birth of lithium batteries. However, early lithium batteries had serious potential safety hazards: using metallic lithium as the negative electrode was prone to produce lithium dendrites, which might pierce the separator and cause short circuits and explosions, so commercial application could not be realized.

It was not until 1985 that Japanese scientists developed lithium-ion batteries with graphite as the negative electrode, solving the safety problem of lithium dendrites, and lithium batteries officially entered the commercial research and development stage. In 1991, Sony launched the world's first commercial lithium-ion battery, which was first applied to portable video cameras, marking the official entry of lithium batteries into the consumer market.

In the past 30 years, lithium battery technology has continued to make breakthroughs: the energy density has increased from 50Wh/kg initially to more than 300Wh/kg today, the charging speed has been greatly accelerated, the safety has been continuously improved, and the cost has also continued to decrease. From mobile phones and computers to new energy vehicles and energy storage power stations, the application scenarios of lithium batteries have been continuously expanded, becoming one of the core driving forces for promoting the new energy revolution and the development of the digital age.