An ethyl methyl sulfone co-solvent eliminates macroscopic morphological instabilities of lithium metal anode

Abstract

Lithium metal anodes suffer from a short cycle life, and the parasitic reactions of lithium with electrolytes are widely observed. Common sense is to avoid such reactions. Herein, we head in the opposite direction by using an oxidizing co-solvent, ethyl methyl sulfone, in the electrolyte, which addresses the ‘dendrite’ issue entirely, resulting in a dense and macroscopically smooth surface morphology of the plated lithium. However, a dendrite-free lithium metal anode does not necessarily exhibit a high coulombic efficiency.