LiPF6 is weak against moisture and heat; LiFSI corrodes aluminum. We explain why the two weaknesses lie on different axes and where the dual-salt patent US9698447B2 draws its boundary.
Cell life depends heavily on the SEI formed during the first charge. We explain how VC and FEC additives work and how the foundational VC patent (US5626981A) drew its scope.
LiOH and Li2CO3 left after calcining high-nickel cathodes can be washed off, but washing starts another cost: surface damage.
LFP’s low electronic conductivity has been bypassed by nanosizing to shorten distances and carbon coating to pave pathways, paid for in volume.
LNMO operates at about 4.7 V, but commercial electrolytes stay stable only to about 4.3 V. That 0.4 V gap is LNMO’s commercialization bottleneck.
Making NCM as a single crystal grain suppresses intergranular cracking and surface-area growth, at the cost of some initial capacity and calcination freedom.
Adding manganese to LFP raises voltage and energy density, but conductivity, structural stability, and manganese dissolution come with the bill.
On 5 February 2026, Changan Automobile, together with CATL, unveiled a mass-production passenger vehicle equipped with sodium-ion batteries, and CATL announced that its sodium-ion battery “Naxtra” reaches an energy density of up to 175 Wh/kg, a pure-electric range of more than 400 km, and about three times the discharge power of equivalent LFP batteries at –30 °C.