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Fabricating a robust interfacial layer on the lithium metal anode to isolate it from liquid electrolyte is vital to restrain the rapid degradation of a lithium metal battery. Here, we report that the solution-processed metal chloride perovskite thin film can be coated onto the lithium metal surface as a robust interfacial layer to shield the lithium metal from liquid electrolyte. Via phase analysis and density functional theory calculations, we demonstrate that the perovskite layer can allow fast lithium ion shuttle under a low energy barrier of 0.45 eV without the collapse of framework. Such perovskite modification can realize stable cycling of LiCoO2|Li cells with an areal capacity of 2.8 mAh cm−2 using thin lithium metal foil (50 μm) and limited electrolyte (20 μl mAh−1) for over 100 cycles at 0.5 C. The metal chloride perovskite protection strategy could open a promising avenue for advanced lithium metal batteries.

Solid electrolytes (SEs) with superionic conductivity and interfacial stability are highly desirable for stable all-solid-state Li-metal batteries (ASSLMBs). Here, we employ neural network potential to simulate materials composed of Li, Zr/Hf, and Cl using stochastic surface walking method and identify two potential unique layered halide SEs, named Li 2 ZrCl 6 and Li 2 HfCl 6 , for stable ASSLMBs. The predicted halide SEs possess high Li + conductivity and outstanding compatibility with Li metal anodes. We synthesize these SEs and demonstrate their superior stability against Li metal anodes with a record performance of 4000 h of steady lithium plating/stripping. We further fabricate the prototype stable ASSLMBs using these halide SEs without any interfacial modifications, showing small internal cathode/SE resistance (19.48 Ω cm 2 ), high average Coulombic efficiency (∼99.48%), good rate capability (63 mAh g −1 at 1.5 C), and unprecedented cycling stability (87% capacity retention for 70 cycles at 0.5 C).

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Organic ionic plastic crystals (OIPCs) are promising solid electrolytes. To observe the effect of defects and a mixed OIPC matrix on ionic conductivity, lithium-ion transfer and chloride-ion transfer in chiral and racemic (+/±)-3-hydroxyquinuclidinium perchlorate plastic crystals were studied. The pure chiral material and racemic mixture and their corresponding doped mixtures showed different thermal behaviors. Powder X-ray diffraction revealed that the cubic crystal structure appeared in both the high-temperature phase of the pure chiral material and the whole temperature range for the racemic system. Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectra indicated the possible ion mobility of the two undoped matrices. The lithiumion conductivity in the chiral material (above −10 °C) and racemic mixture (in the whole temperature region) increased 2.5−3 orders of magnitude, while the chloride-ion conductivity in the chiral material only increased obviously above 50 °C. Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy demonstrated the dependence of ionic conductivity on defect volumes of the pure chiral material and its doped mixtures, and the defects of the doped mixtures expanded largely. The ionic conductivity and defect volume of the doped mixtures containing lithium ions and chloride ions qualitatively obeyed the Cohen−Turnbull free volume theory.

Exploring new solid electrolytes (SEs) for lithium-ion conduction is significant for the development of rechargeable all-solid-state lithium batteries. Here, a lead-free organic–inorganic halide perovskite, MASr0.8Li0.4Cl3 (MA = methylammonium, CH3NH3 in formula), is reported as a new SE for Li-ion conduction due to its highly symmetric crystal structure, inherent soft lattice, and good tolerance for composition tunability. Via density functional theory calculations, we demonstrate that the hybrid perovskite framework can allow fast Li-ion migration without the collapse of the crystal structure. The influence of the lithium content in MASr1–x Li2x Cl3 (x = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, or 0.4) on Li+ migration is systematically investigated. At the lithium content of x = 0.2, the MASr0.8Li0.4Cl3 achieves the room-temperature lithium ionic conductivity of 7.0 × 10–6 S cm–1 with a migration energy barrier of ∼0.47 eV. The lithium–tin alloy (Li–Sn) symmetric cell exhibits stable electrochemical lithium plating/stripping for nearly 100 cycles, indicating the alloy anode compatibility of the MASr0.8Li0.4Cl3 SE. This lead-free organic–inorganic halide perovskite SE will open a new avenue for exploring new SEs.

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