The electrodes of a Li-ion battery are separated by an
electrically insulating, Li
+
ion permeable membrane and
immersed in an ionically conductive electrolyte solution.
During discharge, Li
+
ions shuttle from the anode to the
cathode and electricity flows through the external circuit
to power the device (Figure 1f). The battery is recharged
by applying a voltage that forces Li back into the anode.
The stored electrical energy depends on the open circuit
voltage determined by the difference in anode and cath-
ode redox potentials and the charge storage capacity of
the anode and cathode. Si and Ge have much higher
lithium storage capacities than graphite and similar oper-
ating voltages thereby providing significantly higher
energy density, but the batteries must undergo hundreds
of cycles without significant capacity fade. Cycle rate,
typically reported as C/X where X is the number of hours
required to fully charge or discharge, also affects the
charge storage capacity as faster cycle rates and higher
current densities can induce kinetic limitations that lower
the capacity (Figure 1g and h). To isolate battery