"Lithium battery" is a kind of battery with lithium metal or lithium alloy as cathode material and non-aqueous electrolyte solution. In 1912, the lithium metal battery was first proposed and studied by Gilbert n. Lewis. In the 1970s, M. S. Whittingham proposed and began to study lithium-ion batteries. Because the chemical properties of lithium metal are very active, the processing, preservation and use of lithium metal have very high environmental requirements. With the development of science and technology, lithium battery has become the mainstream.

Lithium battery can be roughly divided into two categories: lithium metal battery and lithium-ion battery. Lithium ion batteries do not contain metallic lithium and can be charged. The fifth generation of rechargeable battery lithium metal battery was born in 1996. Its safety, specific capacity, self discharge rate and performance price ratio are better than lithium-ion battery. Limited by its own high-tech requirements, only a few companies in several countries are producing the lithium metal battery.