Crystallographically Textured Electrodes for Rechargeable Batteries: Symmetry, Fabrication, and Characterization

Abstract

The vast of majority of battery electrode materials of contemporary interest are of a crystalline nature. Crystals are, by definition, anisotropic from an atomic-structure perspective. The inherent structural anisotropy may give rise to favored mesoscale orientations and anisotropic properties whether the material is in a rest state or subjected to an external stimulus. The overall perspective of this review is that intentional manipulation of crystallographic anisotropy of electrochemically active materials constitute an untapped parameter space in energy storage systems and thus provide new opportunities for materials innovations and design. To that end, we contend that crystallographically textured electrodes, as opposed to their textureless poly crystalline or single-crystalline analogs, are promising candidates for next-generation storage of electrical energy in rechargeable batteries relevant to commercial practice. This perspective is underpinned first by the fundamentalto a first approximationuniaxial, rotation-invariant symmetry of electrochemical cells. On this basis, we show that a crystallographically textured electrode with the preferred orientation aligned out-of-plane toward the counter electrode represents an optimal strategy for utilization of the crystals’ anisotropic properties. Detailed analyses of anisotropy of different types lead to a simple, but potentially useful general principle that “ P ec // P c ” textures are optimal for metal anodes, and “ P ec // S c ” textures are optimal for insertion-type electrodes.

Design principles for heterointerfacial alloying kinetics at metallic anodes in rechargeable batteries

“…On the one hand, it is understood that the irreversibility of plating/stripping processes at a metal battery anode is the dominant source of degradation of storage capacity with time ( 9 ) and is also associated with serious safety risks associated with internal shorting ( 14 ). On the other hand, multiple physiochemical processes are actively involved, such as crystal nucleation and growth ( 15 ), diffusion, and convection, and therefore, control is challenging ( 16 , 17 ). A diversity of strategies has been proposed to address these challenges, including electrolyte design ( 18 , 19 ), electrode architecture design ( 20 , 21 ), and surface chemistry/interphase design ( 12 , 22 ).…”

Piezoelectric 1T Phase MoSe2 Nanoflowers and Crystallographically Textured Electrodes for Enhanced Low‐Temperature Zinc‐Ion Storage

“…[ 33 ] In energy storage systems, the orientation order (texture) of the crystals in the battery electrodes is a key and under‐explored direction that provides an opportunity for significant future progress. [ 34 ] Thus, controlling the crystallographic anisotropy of electrochemically active materials is crucial in electrode design; however, the development of a scalable strategy for preparing crystallographically textured electrodes with targeted ordering of crystals at macroscopic lengths remains a challenge. Flexible conductive carbon fibers and carbon‐based textiles have a typical skin‐core structure in which a loose carbon core is surrounded by compact graphene orientation layers.…”

Metal Anodes with Ultrahigh Reversibility Enabled by the Closest Packing Crystallography for Sustainable Batteries

“…To construct planar dendrite‐free metal anodes with high reversibility, it is necessary to promote compact and thin metallic deposits with preferential lateral growth in the plane. [ 10 ] From a geometric point of view, the metallic deposit is the most compact and the growth is the most lateral when the closest packing facet is aligned horizontally with the substrate. Moreover, the closest packing facet aligning horizontally with the substrate endows excellent chemical stability for metal anodes to resist parasitic reactions because of the lowest surface energy and the least dangling bonds of the closest packing facet.…”