Issue 10, 2021

Strategies towards enabling lithium metal in batteries: interphases and electrodes

Abstract

Despite the continuous increase in capacity, lithium-ion intercalation batteries are approaching their performance limits. As a result, research is intensifying on next-generation battery technologies. The use of a lithium metal anode promises the highest theoretical energy density and enables use of lithium-free or novel high-energy cathodes. However, the lithium metal anode suffers from poor morphological stability and Coulombic efficiency during cycling, especially in liquid electrolytes. In contrast to solid electrolytes, liquid electrolytes have the advantage of high ionic conductivity and good wetting of the anode, despite the lithium metal volume change during cycling. Rapid capacity fade due to inhomogeneous deposition and dissolution of lithium is the main hindrance to the successful utilization of the lithium metal anode in combination with liquid electrolytes. In this perspective, we discuss how experimental and theoretical insights can provide possible pathways for reversible cycling of two-dimensional lithium metal. Therefore, we discuss improvements in the understanding of lithium metal nucleation, deposition, and stripping on the nanoscale. As the solid–electrolyte interphase (SEI) plays a key role in the lithium morphology, we discuss how the proper SEI design might allow stable cycling. We highlight recent advances in conventional and (localized) highly concentrated electrolytes in view of their respective SEIs. We also discuss artificial interphases and three-dimensional host frameworks, which show prospects of mitigating morphological instabilities and suppressing large shape change on the electrode level.

Graphical abstract: Strategies towards enabling lithium metal in batteries: interphases and electrodes

Article information

Article type
Perspective
Submitted
12 3月 2021
Accepted
08 7月 2021
First published
29 7月 2021
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Energy Environ. Sci., 2021,14, 5289-5314

Strategies towards enabling lithium metal in batteries: interphases and electrodes

B. Horstmann, J. Shi, R. Amine, M. Werres, X. He, H. Jia, F. Hausen, I. Cekic-Laskovic, S. Wiemers-Meyer, J. Lopez, D. Galvez-Aranda, F. Baakes, D. Bresser, C. Su, Y. Xu, W. Xu, P. Jakes, Rüdiger-A. Eichel, E. Figgemeier, U. Krewer, J. M. Seminario, P. B. Balbuena, C. Wang, S. Passerini, Y. Shao-Horn, M. Winter, K. Amine, R. Kostecki and A. Latz, Energy Environ. Sci., 2021, 14, 5289 DOI: 10.1039/D1EE00767J

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications, without requesting further permission from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given and it is not used for commercial purposes.

To request permission to reproduce material from this article in a commercial publication, 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 commercial 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