Advanced High Energy Density Secondary Batteries with Multi-Electron Reaction Materials

Secondary batteries have become important for smart grid and electric vehicle applications, and massive effort has been dedicated to optimizing the current generation and improving their energy density. Multi-electron chemistry has paved a new path for the breaking of the barriers that exist in traditional battery research and applications, and provided new ideas for developing new battery systems that meet energy density requirements. An in-depth understanding of multi-electron chemistries in terms of the charge transfer mechanisms occuring during their electrochemical processes is necessary and urgent for the modification of secondary battery materials and development of secondary battery systems. In this Review, multi-electron chemistry for high energy density electrode materials and the corresponding secondary battery systems are discussed. Specifically, four battery systems based on multi-electron reactions are classified in this review: lithium- and sodium-ion batteries based on monovalent cations; rechargeable batteries based on the insertion of polyvalent cations beyond those of alkali metals; metal–air batteries, and Li–S batteries. It is noted that challenges still exist in the development of multi-electron chemistries that must be overcome to meet the energy density requirements of different battery systems, and much effort has more effort to be devoted to this.