Issue 22, 2020

Mesoporous carbon host material for stable lithium metal anode

Abstract

Lithium (Li) metal is a promising anode material for next-generation batteries because of its low standard reduction potential (−3.04 V vs. SHE) and high specific capacity (3860 mA h g−1). However, it is still challenging to directly use Li metal as anode material in commercial batteries because of unstable Li dendrite formation and accumulated solid–electrolyte interphase. Possible methods that can suppress the unwanted formation of Li dendrites are (i) by increasing the electrode surface area and (ii) formation of porosity for confining Li. Here, we tested microporous (<2 nm) carbon and mesoporous (2–50 nm) carbon as host materials for the Li metal anode to avoid their degradation during cycling of lithium metal batteries (LMBs). Mesoporous carbon was more effective than microporous carbon as a host material to confine the Li metal and the lifetime of mesoporous carbon was more than twice as long as those of the Cu foil and microporous carbon. After confirmed better anode performance of mesoporous carbon host material, we applied Li-plated mesoporous carbon as an anode in a lithium–sulfur battery (Li–S) full cell. This research work suggests that mesopores, in spite of their low specific surface area, are better than micropores in stabilizing the Li metal and that a mesoporous host material can be applied to Li metal anodes for use in next-generation battery applications.

Graphical abstract: Mesoporous carbon host material for stable lithium metal anode

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
20 3 2020
Accepted
05 5 2020
First published
20 5 2020

Nanoscale, 2020,12, 11818-11824

Mesoporous carbon host material for stable lithium metal anode

J. Jeong, J. Chun, W. Lim, W. B. Kim, C. Jo and J. Lee, Nanoscale, 2020, 12, 11818 DOI: 10.1039/D0NR02258F

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements