Up-to-date development of lithium-ion batteries in Japan

In this paper, the authors review the up-to-date development of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), focusing mainly on the situation in Japan. The materials, constructions, and electrochemical performance of the latest commercially available LIBs, including lithium polymer batteries, which have come onto the market only fairly recently, are described in the first half of this article. The authors then discuss the recent trends in the development of battery materials for LIBs as well as those of large-scale LIBs.