Unlocking the Potential of Cation-Disordered Oxides for Rechargeable Lithium Batteries

Disorderly Flow Lithium batteries are becoming ever more important in society. While their application used to be confined to portable electronics, they are now becoming the enabling technology for electric vehicles and grid storage for renewables. Generally, the flow of lithium ions into and out of battery electrodes is thought to require ordered materials. Lee et al. (p. 519 , published online 9 January) used a combination of experimental work and computations to identify disordered electrode materials with high Li diffusion. The improved energy density properties could be attributed to compositions with excess lithium beyond the stoichiometric limit, leading to intermixing between the lithium and transition metal sublattices and the formation of a percolation network providing specific lithium transport pathways.