Crystallographic Design of Intercalation Materials

Abstract Intercalation materials are promising candidates for reversible energy storage and are, example, used as lithium-battery electrodes, hydrogen-storage compounds, electrochromic materials. An important issue preventing the more widespread use of these is that they undergo structural transformations (of up to ∼10% lattice strains) during intercalation, which expand material, nucleate microcracks, and, ultimately, lead material failure. Besides transformation lattices, crystallographic texture intercalation plays a key role in governing ion-transport properties, generating phase separation microstructures, elastically interacting with crystal defects. In this review, I provide an overview how defects affect chemo-mechanical properties each section, identify challenges opportunities crystallographically design compounds improve their lifespans. predominantly cite examples from literature cathodes rechargeable batteries, however, identified transferable broader range compounds.