A Pressure Self‐Adaptable Route for Uniform Lithium Plating and Stripping in Composite Anode

Abstract

Lithium (Li) metal anode confronts impressive challenges to revolutionize the current rechargeable batteries due to the intractably unstable interface. The composite Li anode is proposed to relieve volume fluctuations and suppress Li dendrites apparently. However, the inner space of composite anodes still affords feasibility for the continuous growth of unconstrained Li dendrites, leading to a low utilization of deposited Li and even safety hazards. Herein, an emerging and rational strategy to design composite anodes is proposed to regulate the inner Li plating/stripping. The self‐adaptable pressure is generated by the filled elastic polymer inside conductive hosts, surpassing the yield strength of Li and confining Li to form a smooth morphology with a high utilization owing to the persistent electronic pathways under pressure. The pressure self‐adaptable composite anode renders 160 cycles with a capacity retention of 80% in comparison to 60 cycles with a planar Li under practical conditions. Moreover, a 1.0 Ah pouch cell undergoes 68 cycles impressively. This work not only presents a fresh perspective on regulation of inner Li plating/stripping by introducing a self‐adaptable pressure into the composite anode, but also demonstrates the avenue of exploring multifunctional composite anodes for practical Li metal batteries.

Self‐Healing Properties of Alkali Metals under “High‐Energy Conditions” in Batteries

“…Moreover, dendrites break and become "dead metal," which finally consumes the active metal and leads to poor cycle life of the battery. [11] Consequently, severe dendrite growth will impale the membrane, short-circuiting the battery.After the electron enrichment of the dendrite tip, [12,13] the performance of the battery will be substantially enhanced if the dendrites possess self-healing ability. [14] All the abovementioned limitations can be overcome or reduced if dendrite growth/breakage can be prevented during the deposition/ dissolution process.…”

“…Moreover, dendrites break and become "dead metal," which finally consumes the active metal and leads to poor cycle life of the battery. [11] Consequently, severe dendrite growth will impale the membrane, short-circuiting the battery.…”

Carbon materials for stable Li metal anodes: Challenges, solutions, and outlook

“…[4][5][6] In particular, Li metal batteries (LMBs) are considered as one of the promising candidates because the Li metal anode possesses a theoretical specific capacity of ~3861 mAh g −1 , more than 10-fold that of the graphite anode (372 mAh g −1 ) used in commercial LIBs, and the lowest electrochemical potential (−3.04 V vs. the standard hydrogen electrode), resulting in high output voltage during operation. [7][8][9][10] When the Li metal is paired with layered transition-metal compounds (e.g., LiNi x Co y Mn 1 −…”

Thermally Stable and Nonflammable Electrolytes for Lithium Metal Batteries: Progress and Perspectives

“…LMBs are revived after 2010 due to the strong demand of high-energy-density batteries and the emerging materials and technologies to solve the inherent problems. [30] New electrolyte design, [31][32][33][34][35] composite lithium anode with a 3D host, [36][37][38] artificial coating, [39][40][41][42] and theoretical simulations [43] have been intensively investigated to suppress the formation of lithium dendrites and remarkable advances have been achieved in prolonging the cycle life of LMBs as summarized in recent impactful reviews. [44,45] However, in addition to suppress lithium…”