“…21,22 The chemical inactivity of these same oxide layers can also be exploited as a means to passivate surfaces against unwanted dendritic growth on the anodes of lithium metal batteries 20 or whisker formation on electronic assemblies. 23 With metal nanostructures being highly susceptible to morphological transformations at elevated temperatures, ALD-deposited oxides have also proven effective in impeding the surface diffusion pathways responsible for these changes. In this role, they have preserved the shape-dependent properties of nanometals, 12,24,25 inhibited nanoparticle sintering, 17,18,[26][27][28][29] and allowed for improvements to nanostructure crystallinity.…”