Increasing demands on using batteries nowadays for large-scale applications such as electric vehicles and electronic devices, require high capacity electrodes with long-term stability to efficiently supply the high energy needs. Lithium metal is commonly known for its highest specific capacity, lowest electrochemical potential, and lightweight. However, stability and safety concerns arise when Li is used as a rechargeable anode electrode in secondary batteries. This is attributed to its unlimited volume change and dendritic formation during charging /discharging, which leads to cell failure and risk of fire or explosion due to short circuit problems. This limits the wide commercialization of lithium metal as a rechargeable electrode especially under high charging/discharging current density. Herein, we report a unique design for lithium metal in the form of lithium foam, which proves its capability to drastically increase the battery cycling stability (3 times longer than lithium metal foil electrodes), while providing much better performance under high charging/discharging rates (5 times larger specific capacity than that of lithium foil electrodes). Our findings suggest a promising approach to address lithium dendrite problem and advocate lithium metal as a reliable choice for supplying high power demands with large capacity, which is strongly required for market demands.<br/>

Porous lithium metal foam with superior ion accessibility for high performance lithium metal anode

256th National Meeting (2018)

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