Lithiophilic Silver Coating on Lithium Metal Surface for Inhibiting Lithium Dendrites

Abstract

Li metal batteries (LMBs) are known as the ideal energy storage candidates for the future rechargeable batteries due to the high energy density. However, uncontrolled Li dendrites growing during charge/discharge process causes extremely low coulombic efficiency and short lifespan. In this work, a thin lithiophilic layer of Ag was coated on the bare Li surface via a thermal evaporation method, which alleviated volume variations and suppressed Li dendrites growth during cycling. As a result, a long lifespan of 250 h at a current density of 1 mA cm −2 was achieved in the symmetric cell when using the Ag-modified Li foil (Ag@Li). The LiFePO 4 |Li full cell demonstrated an excellent cycling performance with a high specific capacity of 131 mAh g −1 even after 300 cycles at 0.5 C. This study offers a suitable method for stabilizing Li metal anodes in LMBs.

Advanced Material Engineering to Tailor Nucleation and Growth towards Uniform Deposition for Anode‐Less Lithium Metal Batteries

“…Such phenomenon can therefore explain various experimental results observed in the literature, in which these metals seem to facilitate in lithium deposition, and their alloying behavior with lithium during ion transport. [94][95][96][97][98] For instance, lithiation of the solid-solution alloy phase permits newly created lithium atoms on the surface to sink into the metal foil, while the reversible alloy phase change is accompanied by a dealloying reaction during delithiation, which extracts lithium atoms from the metal foil's interior. This mechanism in lowering nucleation barrier for metals or metal nanoparticle composites is seen in both metal coatings and metal composite coatings involving Zn, Ag, Sn, and Au.…”

In‐situ Lithiated SiO2 as Lithium‐Free Anode for Lithium‐Sulfur Batteries

“…For example, the ex-situ surface coatings such as LiF, Li 3 N, LiPON, polymer coatings, carbon materials, and lithiophilic material coatings have gained much interest. [8,[13][14][15][16][17][18][19] In particular, lithiophilic material coating such as ZnO, CuO, Si, Ag, and Au have superior advantages. [17,[20][21][22][23] The higher lithiophilicity of these materials renders Li nucleation barrier, resulting in homogeneous Li deposition.…”

“…[8,[13][14][15][16][17][18][19] In particular, lithiophilic material coating such as ZnO, CuO, Si, Ag, and Au have superior advantages. [17,[20][21][22][23] The higher lithiophilicity of these materials renders Li nucleation barrier, resulting in homogeneous Li deposition. Even though the above-mentioned strategies effectively control Li dendrite growth by forming the SEI layer, volume expansion (due to the internal stress fluctuations) and inhomogeneous Li deposition (due to the high local current densities) cannot be efficiently resolved by these simple surface modifications.…”

“…(ii) Introducing a physical artificial layer coating on Li metal surface. For example, the ex‐situ surface coatings such as LiF, Li 3 N, LiPON, polymer coatings, carbon materials, and lithiophilic material coatings have gained much interest [8,13–19] . In particular, lithiophilic material coating such as ZnO, CuO, Si, Ag, and Au have superior advantages [17,20–23] .…”

Patterning and a Composite Protective Layer Provide Modified Li Metal Anodes for Dendrite-Free High-Voltage Solid-State Lithium Batteries

“…Several approaches have been explored to prevent the aforesaid issues in LMBs, including the use of protective layers or artificial SEI (ASEI) layers derived from inorganic fillers − or polymer film coatings, − electrolyte additives, − and other means of surface modification of the Li metal anode. − Among these strategies, polymer coatings appear most feasible for the preparation of stable Li anodes because of their flexibility and elasticity when compared with inorganic layer coatings and also because they are more capable of accommodating the volume changes that occur during Li plating/stripping cycles. Furthermore, a strategy of combining inorganic components with polymer matrixes can significantly enhance the mechanical strength of the protection layer and improve the electrochemical performance of the LMBs; here, the hybrid coating layer not only provides the film with mechanical stability to suppress the growth of Li dendrites but also improves the ionic conductivity and interfacial resistivity at the electrode/electrolyte interphase.…”