Electrochemical energy storage (EES) is playing a pivotal role in the global pursuit of a clean and sustainable energy future. Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are the state-of-the-art technology but future energy requirements demand higher energy densities and a more diverse battery landscape to meet a wide variety of applications. Unfortunately, many next-generation LIB chemistries and beyond-LIB technologies suffer from large first cycle irreversible capacity
caused by active ion loss (AIL). The field of pre-lithiation/sodiation have recently emerged as researchers attempt to mitigate AIL and boost the energy density of next-generation LIBs and sodium-ion batteries (SIBs). In this short review, we highlight recent advances in cathode prelithiation/sodiation using sacrificial additives and pre-lithiation/sodiation of cathode active materials (CAMs).W.D. acknowledges support from the Faraday Institution degradation project (FIRG001) and EPSRC (EP/S003053/1). C.J. acknowledges support from the Vehicle Technologies Program, Hybrid and Electric Systems, of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Argonne National Laboratory is operated under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH1135