Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Building better batteries

Nature volume 451, pages 652–657 (2008)Cite this article

Researchers must find a sustainable way of providing the power our modern lifestyles demand.

The technological revolution of the past few centuries has been fuelled mainly by variations of the combustion reaction, the fire that marked the dawn of humanity. But this has come at a price: the resulting emissions of carbon dioxide have driven global climate change. For the sake of future generations, we urgently need to reconsider how we use energy in everything from barbecues to jet aeroplanes and power stations.

This is a preview of subscription content

Access options

Buy article

Get time limited or full article access on ReadCube.

$32.00

Buy

All prices are NET prices.

Figure 1: Revisiting the past.

CCI ARCHIVES/SPL S.CURRY/AFP/GETTY G. RUELAS/REUTERS

Figure 2: Battery chemistry over the years.
Figure 3: Reaction mechanisms.
Figure 4: An organic future.
Figure 5: Lithium–air batteries.
Figure 6: Wild cards.
Figure 7: Entering the third dimension.

References

  1. Linden, D. & Reddy, T. B. (eds) Handbook of Batteries, 3rd edn (McGraw-Hill, 2002).

  2. Nagaura, T. & Tozawa, K. Prog. Batteries Sol. Cells 9, 209 (1990).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Lutgens, F. K. & Tarbuck, E. J. Essentials of Geology 7th edn (Prentice Hall, New York, 2000).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Ward, R. D. & Brownlee, D. Rare Earth (Copernicus, New York, 2000).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Ishihara, K. 5th Int. Conf. Ecobalance, Tsukuba (2002).

  6. Arico, A. S., Bruce, P., Scrosati, B., Tarascon, J.-M. & van Schalkwijk, W. Nature Mater. 4, 366–377 (2005).

    CAS  Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Ravet, N. et al. Electrochemical Society Meeting, Hawaii (1999).

  8. Poizot, P., Laruelle, S., Grugeon, S., Dupont, L. & Tarascon, J.-M. Nature 407, 496–499 (2000).

    CAS  Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  9. Croce, F., Appetecchi, G. B., Persi, L. & Scrosati, B. Nature 394, 456–458 (1998).

    CAS  Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  10. Sadoway, D. R. et al. J. Power Sources 97–98, 621–623 (2001).

  11. Nam, K. T. et al. Science 312, 885–888 (2006).

    CAS  Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  12. Hoare, R. J., Harrison, P. M. & Hoy, T. G. Nature 255, 653–654 (1975).

    CAS  Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  13. MacDiarmid, A. G., Yang, L. S., Huang, W. S. & Humphrey, B. D. Synth. Metals 18, 393–398 (1987).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Novak, P., Müller, K., Santhanam, K. S. V. & Haas, O. Chem. Rev. 97, 207–282 (1997).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Chen, H. et al. ChemSusChem (in the press).

  16. Anastas, P. & Warner, J. C. Green Chemistry (Oxford Univ. Press, New York, 1998).

    Google Scholar 

  17. http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press/200708/07-074E/index.html

  18. Abraham, K. M. & Jiang, Z. J. Electrochem. Soc. 143, N01 (1996).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Ogasawara, T., Debart, A., Holzapfel, M., Novak, P. & Bruce, P. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 128, 1390–1393 (2006).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Fischer, A. E., Pettigrew, K. A., Rolison, D. R., Stroud, R. M. & Long, J. W. Nano Lett. 7, 281–286 (2007).

    CAS  Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  21. Rosso, M. et al. Electrochim. Acta 51, 5334–5340 (2006).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Glasstone, S. The Fundamentals of Electrochemistry and Electrodeposition (American Electroplaters' Society, New York, 1943).

    Google Scholar 

  23. Aurbach, D. et al. J. Electrochem. Soc. 149, A115–A121 (2002).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Kamavaram, V. & Reddy, R. G. Electrochemical Studies of Aluminum Deposition in Ionic Liquids at Ambient Temperatures: Light Metals (Warrendale, 2002).

    Google Scholar 

  25. Long, J. W., Dunn, B., Rolison, D. R. & White, H. S. Chem. Rev. 104, 4463–4492 (2004).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  26. A travers le monde (ed. Hachette) 213–214 (1899).

  27. La Science et la Vie N°50, (May 1920).

  28. Amatucci, G. G. & Pereira, N. J. Fluorine Chem. 128, 243–262 (2007).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the scientific community in the field of energy storage and conversion for laying the foundations for these views. They are also grateful to G. Amatucci, D. Murphy and P. Poizot for valuable comments.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. M. Armand and J.-M. Tarascon are at the LRCS, CNRS UMR-6007, Université de Picardie Jules Verne, Amiens, France.,

    M. Armand & J.-M. Tarascon

Authors
  1. M. Armand
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. J.-M. Tarascon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to J.-M. Tarascon.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Armand, M., Tarascon, JM. Building better batteries. Nature 451, 652–657 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/451652a

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/451652a

Further reading

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing