Multiscale Co-Design of Electrode Architectures and Electrolytes

A special issue of Batteries (ISSN 2313-0105).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 May 2026 | Viewed by 807

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Interests: lithium metal batteries; solid-state electrolytes; first-principles calculations; machine-learning

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Guest Editor
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Advanced Energy Storage Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, China
Interests: lithium-ion batteries; sodium-ion batteries; high-voltage electrolyte; interphase engineering
School of Chemistry & Environment, Yunnan Minzu University, Kunming 650504, China
Interests: Li-ion batteries; Layered oxide cathodes; Structure modulation; Mechanical failure

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Rapid electrification across transportation, aviation, and grid storage demands step changes in energy density, rate capability, and durability, and meeting these targets requires moving beyond siloed materials discovery to explicitly co‑designed particle-scale to device-scale electrode architectures with molecularly engineered electrolytes (solvents, salts, additives, gels, polymers, and solids). Such integration can unlock high areal loading at low tortuosity, engineer stable SEI/CEI (solid–/cathode–electrolyte interphases), and remain compatible with scalable manufacturing (dry-coating, high‑solids slurries, calendering, and templating/printing).

We welcome experimental, computational, and data‑driven studies that tightly connect structure and processing to device‑level performance under manufacturing‑relevant conditions. Reports should include quantitative, comparable metrics such as areal capacity/loading, electrode thickness and density, porosity/tap density/tortuosity, N/P ratio, electrolyte‑to‑capacity (E/C) ratio, stack pressure (where relevant), test temperature and voltage window, and full‑cell formats (pouch/stack demonstrations encouraged). Capacitor studies are welcome with appropriate device metrics (e.g., ESR and power density).

Areas of interest include, but are not limited to, the following topics:

  • Particle‑level architectures (core–shell/yolk–shell/hollow; hierarchical porosity; defect/doping; and heterostructures).
  • Interphase and coating engineering (conformal coatings; SEI/CEI chemistry, mechanics, and transport; and protective layers for metal anodes and high‑voltage cathodes).
  • Texture/orientation and graded designs (crystallographic texture, axial/radial gradients in composition/porosity, and graded binders/additives).
  • Low‑tortuosity thick electrodes (aligned channels, templated pathways, and directional drying/ice‑templating).
  • Advanced current collectors and 3D scaffolds (porous/patterned foils, conductive frameworks, and lightweight lattices).
  • Manufacturing‑compatible routes (dry‑coating, high‑solids rheology and mixing, calendering, templating/printing, roll‑to‑roll integration, and process–structure–property links).
  • Co‑optimization via electrolyte design (liquid/gel/polymer/solid chemistries, ionomer binders, tailored transference numbers, and transport matched to architecture).
  • Characterization and metrology (operando/4D imaging, quantitative tortuosity/porosity/density, interphase chemistry and mechanics, and failure diagnostics).
  • Computation and data‑driven co‑design (DFT/AIMD, descriptor discovery, multiscale multiphysics, physics‑informed ML, inverse design and active learning, and closed‑loop automation).

Dr. Jia Dong Shen
Dr. Zhaoyu Sun
Dr. Fangkun Li
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • architected electrodes
  • molecularly designed electrolytes
  • multiscale co-design
  • low-tortuosity thick electrodes
  • interphase engineering (SEI/CEI)
  • machine learning & and inverse design

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

19 pages, 15785 KB  
Article
Cu Doping-Enabled Control of Grain Boundary Fusion and Particle Size in Single-Crystal LiNi0.5Co0.2Mn0.3O2 Cathode Materials
by Lang Xu, Zhipeng Wang, Ya Li, Jie Ding, Xiang Li, Ziqian Wang, Mingjiao Wu, Qiujian Zhang, Mingwu Xiang, Wei Bai, Fangkun Li and Yongshun Liang
Batteries 2025, 11(11), 418; https://doi.org/10.3390/batteries11110418 - 13 Nov 2025
Viewed by 552
Abstract
Copper (Cu) doping is recognized as an effective strategy to enhance the electrochemical properties of LiNi1−x−yCoxMnyO2 (NCM) cathode materials. However, the influence of Cu2+ doping on particle size and grain boundary fusion remains insufficiently explored. [...] Read more.
Copper (Cu) doping is recognized as an effective strategy to enhance the electrochemical properties of LiNi1−x−yCoxMnyO2 (NCM) cathode materials. However, the influence of Cu2+ doping on particle size and grain boundary fusion remains insufficiently explored. A simple microwave-assisted solution combustion synthesis method was used to introduce Cu2+ into LiNi0.5Co0.2Mn0.3O2 (NCM523), aiming to regulate particle size and grain boundary fusion. The results demonstrate that increasing the Cu2+ doping content promotes particle growth, while an appropriate doping level reduces the degree of grain boundary fusion and cation mixing. Benefiting from these structural improvements, the optimized LiNi0.5Co0.2Mn0.29Cu0.01O2 (Cu–1) cathode exhibits significantly enhanced electrochemical performance, delivering a discharge capacity of 128.6 mAh g−1 after 100 cycles at 0.2 C, which is 32 mAh g−1 higher than value of the undoped sample (96.6 mAh g−1). These findings underscore that tailored Cu2+ doping can effectively optimize the microstructure of NCM523, leading to superior cycling stability, and provide new insights into the design of high-performance NCM cathodes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multiscale Co-Design of Electrode Architectures and Electrolytes)
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