Review: recent advances using severe plastic deformation to improve the properties of battery materials

Severe plastic deformation (SPD) techniques are capable of achieving improved properties in materials by modifying the microstructures through the application of large plastic strains. Generally, a more uniform and refined microstructure is obtained after SPD while specific crystallographic textures may also develop depending on the material and processing route. In this study, the SPD procedures employed so far for the processing of battery materials are reviewed, where this is mainly for Zn-, Li-, Mg- and Al-based batteries. Among the various SPD techniques, high-pressure torsion, equal-channel angular pressing, accumulative roll bonding, friction stir processing and deformation-driven metallurgy are all of special interest for conveniently processing battery materials. This review demonstrates that there is an important potential for making use of SPD techniques in the production of battery materials having improved properties and especially in the application of these procedures for fabricating metallic electrodes.