The paper presents basics of the lithium intercalation process into cathode materials used in lithium batteries. The ability and efficiency of lithium intercalation into transition metal compounds have been shown to depend strongly on their electronic structure. A correlation between chemical bonding, electronic structure and electrochemical properties of the cathode materials Li x M a X b (M = transition metal; X = O , S , Se ) has been pointed out.
Electronic structure of high-k transition metal oxides and their silicate and aluminate alloys