Characteristic of Gas Evolution in Lithium-Ion Batteries Using An Anode Based on Lithium Titanate

At present, carbonaceous materials are extensively adopted as an anode for commercial lithium-ion batteries. Zero-strain lithium titanate is generally considered as a more safe and long-life span anode compared with carbonaceous materials, and it will find specific applications in various fields such as hybrid electric vehicles, wind-light-electricity grids, and smart grids. However, the lithium-ion batteries using the lithium titanate as anode will easily swell during the charge-discharge cycle and storage, thus resulting in shell distortion, gas evolution, performance deterioration, and so on. This greatly prevents the practical application of lithium titanate. In this paper, the industrial developments of the four kinds of lithium-ion batteries using the lithium titanate anode are reviewed, and the associated cathode materials are Li (NixCoyMn1-x-y)O-2,LiMn2O4, LiFePO4, and LiCoO2, respectively. The latest research progress of the gas evolution mechanism is summarized from the perspectives of the interfacial characteristics, the water content, the electrolyte reductive decomposition, the negative electrode potential, and the impurities. At the same time, combined with the author's research work, the improving measures are put forward from the viewpoints of material, process, and application. Finally, the key issues and prospects of gassing are also commented.