Lithium-Air: The Next Technological Leap in Battery Chemistry?

How does a supplier with the world’s largest market share in both power batteries and energy storage stay on top in a market where competitors are quick to imitate good ideas? 

By getting better, of course. 

Chinese battery giant CATL, the world’s largest battery manufacturer, has indicated what its next-generation battery development will focus on: lithium-air batteries (Fig. 1).

At the 2026 Equipment Powerhouse Forum in Beijing, Wu Kai, the company’s Chief Scientist and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, cited lithium-air battery technology as the primary focus for the company’s future research and the upcoming arena for global competition in next-generation batteries.

Lithium-air batteries are advanced energy storage systems that use lithium for the anode and oxygen from ambient air for the cathode. Promising a theoretical energy density of up to 12,000 Wh/kg (comparable to gasoline), they could revolutionize electric vehicles by completely eliminating range anxiety, though commercialization is still in development.

Li-Air vs. Li-Ion

In theory, a lithium-air battery can store much more energy per volume of battery than today’s lithium-ion designs. If successfully commercialized, this technology could fundamentally eliminate range anxiety, enabling electric-vehicle range that exceeds 1,600 km.

Unlike standard lithium-ion systems that rely on heavy metals (like nickel, cobalt, and manganese to host lithium ions), lithium-air batteries use oxygen from the air as the cathode reactant. This removes the need for heavy internal cathode materials.

Instead of storing heavy oxidizers inside the battery, a lithium-air cell "breathes" in oxygen from the surrounding air. During discharge, lithium ions combine with oxygen to create electrical energy. While charging, the chemical bond is broken, releasing oxygen back into the atmosphere and returning lithium to the anode.

Current laboratory prototypes have surpassed 1,200 Wh/kg. That’s already more than 4X the 250- to 270-Wh/kg capacity of mainstream lithium-ion batteries and significantly higher than the 500 Wh/kg expected from solid-state batteries.

There are caveats. Among the technical challenges that must be overcome, lithium-air reactions are sensitive to ambient moisture and carbon dioxide, which leads to rapid cell degradation. 

Another emerging challenge is related to the selective filtration of O₂ gas from air and the suppression of undesired reactions with other constituents in air, such as N₂, water vapor (H₂O), and carbon dioxide (CO₂). Conventional designs also can suffer from cathode clogging due to the buildup of solid discharge products. 

Years in the Making

While the concept of lithium-air batteries dates back to the 1970s, practical application has been hindered by these engineering challenges as well as issues with catalyst stability and cycle life.

Previously, the Illinois Institute of Technology and Argonne National Laboratory developed a prototype achieving 1,200 Wh/kg with a 1,000-cycle lifespan at room temperature (Fig. 2).

Argonne researchers showed that a lithium-air battery can be recharged for at least 1,000 charge-discharge cycles.

A Long-Term Answer

This technology would dramatically increase how much energy batteries can store. Using a solid-state electrolyte instead of a liquid electrolyte would dramatically reduce safety concerns due to fire. 

CATL states that for the long term, it will allocate engineering resources to address the physical bottlenecks of lithium-air technology, aiming at such applications as heavy-duty vehicles and solar and wind electrical grids.