Junyoung Mun

Editorial: Reviews in batteries and electrochemistry volume II

Christopher Johnson, Jung Ho Kim, Yang-Tse Cheng

Interface failure mechanisms and engineering strategies in sulfide and halide solid electrolytes for lithium metal solid-state batteries

Artur Tron

Researchers widely regard lithium-metal solid-state batteries (SSBs) as a promising next-generation energy storage technology. They offer substantially higher theoretical energy density and improved safety compared to conventional lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Among solid electrolytes (SEs), sulfide and halide chemistries stand out due to their high ionic conductivity (>10 –3 S cm -1) and compatibility with high-voltage cathodes (>4.5 V). However, both face significant challenges at the Li-electrolyte interface. This instability manifests as dendrite penetration, electrochemical decomposition, void formation, and mechanical failure. The dominant failure modes and their severity differ between sulfides and halides. This mini-review provides a comparative analysis of interfacial failure mechanisms in sulfide and halide systems. It also evaluates mitigation strategies, including interface engineering, electrolyte chemistry, microstructure design, mechanical reinforcement, and in situ diagnostic techniques, and highlights the trade-offs of each approach. We conclude with a forward-looking roadmap that prioritizes hybrid designs and targeted interface stabilization strategies to accelerate the development of practical, high-performance Li-metal SSBs. This mini-review aims to guide researchers toward material-class-specific solutions that balance conductivity, stability, and manufacturability.

Beyond standard battery testing: a physics-informed framework for validating next-generation battery packs

Phuoc-Anh Le

Standardized battery testing provides an essential foundation for benchmarking and qualification, yet its ability to represent increasingly complex operating conditions is becoming limited. Existing protocols provide reproducible measures of electrochemical performance but often evaluate individual stress factors under controlled laboratory conditions, which may not fully capture the coupled physical environments encountered in real-world operation. Global electric-vehicle battery demand is projected to exceed 3 TW h by 2030, more than tripling from around 1 TW h in 2024 under the IEA Stated Policies Scenario, highlighting the need for reliable battery qualification. As battery technologies evolve toward cell-to-pack architectures, fast charging, solid-state systems, and intelligent battery management, the gap between standardized testing and operational reality is becoming more pronounced. This perspective develops a conceptual physics-informed validation philosophy and proposes a six-level Validation Maturity Framework, progressing from protocol-oriented testing toward stress-oriented, mechanism-oriented, physics-informed, and predictive validation. Representative studies report prediction errors ranging from 2.93% under previously unseen temperatures to below 0.5% on independent datasets, illustrating the quantitative potential of physics-informed and data-driven approaches when validation extends beyond conventional operating conditions. The framework emphasizes physical relevance and mechanistic understanding rather than increasing experimental complexity alone, and discusses how mechanistic models, real-time sensing, physics-informed artificial intelligence, and digital twins can support predictive battery qualification. Standardized testing therefore remains the foundation of a broader validation hierarchy for improving the reliability and practical qualification of next-generation battery packs.

Engineering the structural and electronic properties of VO 2 through Fe substitution for high-performance aqueous zinc-ion batteries

Govind Kumar Maurya, Amit Kumar Singh, Neha Chaudhary, Sheetal Gupta, Khushwant Singh, Suporna Bhowmik, Dhirendra K. Rai

Rechargeable aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) are gaining attention for large-scale energy storage owing to safety and low cost. Among the numerous cathodes for AZIBs, VO 2 is a promising candidate due to its tunnel-like structure and high theoretical capacity; however, its practical application is limited by its low electronic conductivity. To address this issue, doping with several transition metals has been attempted; however, exploration of Fe doping is rare despite its cost-effectiveness and abundance. Herein, a series of Fe-substituted VO 2 cathodes (Fe x V 1-x O 2: x = 0.15, 0.25, and 0.35) have been synthesized via a simple one-step hydrothermal method and systematically evaluated for AZIB applications. PXRD studies indicate a noticeable lattice expansion upon Fe substitution, providing relatively wider pathways for Zn 2+ transport within the cathode framework. Among the investigated compositions, Fe 0.25 V 0.75 O 2 exhibited the best electrochemical performance, delivering a high specific capacity of 380.11 mAh g -1 at 0.1 A g -1, retaining 56% capacity at 5 A g -1, and maintaining 82.75% capacity retention after 500 cycles at 2 A g -1, significantly outperforming the pristine VO 2 cathode. Post-cycling characterization further revealed improved tolerance toward cycling-induced structural and morphological changes, while ICP-OES analysis showed approximately 92.3% lower vanadium dissolution for FeVO 2 -25% than pristine VO 2. The Fe substitution effect is also rationalized by DFT calculations, which showed a modified electronic structure of VO 2, including band-gap narrowing through Fe 3d–V 3d/O 2p hybridization, consistent with the experimentally observed reduction in optical band gap. This work demonstrates that Fe, an earth-abundant and cost-effective dopant, provides an effective strategy for simultaneously tuning the structural and electronic properties of VO 2 and improving its Zn 2+ storage performance in aqueous zinc-ion batteries.

Dual mechanism enhanced capacitive storage and diffusion kinetics in hierarchically porous spherical cluster silicon nanoparticles-carbonized sucrose-activated charcoal anode enable high energy in lithium-ion CR2032 half-cell

Sohan Thombare, Ranjit Humane, Ramchandra Kalubarme, Harsharaj Jadhav, Dhanaji Malavekar, Sohel Shaikh, Chandrakant Lokhande

Silicon (Si) has a high theoretical capacity of 4200 mAh/g in lithium-ion batteries anode; however, it faces three main difficulties: an unstable Solid Electrolyte Interface (SEI), particle pulverization, and volume expansion. In this work, we present a highly efficient anode material for Lithium-Ion CR2032 3V half-cell using Activated Charcoal (AC), Carbonized Sucrose Powder (CSP), and Hierarchically Porous Spherical Cluster Silicon Nanoparticles (HPSC-SiNPs). This anode is designed using carbon to overcome three issues associated with Si. Additionally, the anode charge-storage behavior was examined using cyclic voltammetry (CV). The anode in this investigation showed outstanding electrochemical performance and structural stability. Additionally, Faradaic charge-storage behavior was demonstrated by CV analysis. At 0.56 C, the anode-specific capacity was 3,412.44 mA h/g, and the energy density was 204.74 W h/kg. The initial specific capacity of the half-cell, 3,103.42 mA h/g, decreased to 1,674.53 mA h/g after 200 cycles at a rate of 2.57 C. Initially, the capacity and efficiency of Si appear promising; however, they decline rapidly with increasing cycle number. In contrast, the HPSC-SiNPs-CSP-AC anode, incorporating activated charcoal and carbonized sucrose powder, demonstrated promising and effective performance.