Three Design Strategies for Improving the Thermal Stability of Lithium‐Ion Batteries

Today's information and communication technologies heavily rely on lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs), which were commercialized by Sony in 1991. However, owing to their self‐contained nature, the thermal runaway that leads to rupture or explosion hinders their safe, worry‐free utilization in electric vehicles (EVs) and stationary energy storage systems (SESSs). This contribution introduces three design strategies for improving the thermal stability of LIBs: i) replacing materials for a smaller change in enthalpy, ii) optimizing the solid electrolyte interphase film, and iii) stabilizing the crystal lattice. These strategies could pave the way to satisfying the heretofore competing needs for LIBs to have both high energy density and high thermal stability, enabling further widespread applications to EVs and SESSs.