<br/>Over the past decades, advances in rechargeable batteries for high energy, high efficiency and safe electrochemical energy storage have enabled a broad range of applications from consumer electronics to the electrification of transportation. The current state-of-art rechargeable systems (lead-acid, nickel-cadmium, lithium-ion) are only marginally able to satisfy current needs in any of these applications. Next generation batteries, use alternative redox chemistries to achieve higher energy densities and extended cyclability are required. It has been understood that replacing the carbonaceous anode with metallic lithium in a current lithium ion battery (LIB) can lead to an anodic capacity increase of nearly ten-fold (from 360 to 3860 mAh/g). Secondary batteries based on metals (Li, Na, Mg, Al etc.) as anodes can provide higher storage capacity and are compatible with low-cost, high-energy, unlithiated conversion reaction cathodes such as sulfur, manganese dioxide, carbon dioxide, and oxygen compared to the current commercial LIBs. Yet, large-scale and commercial deployment of metal batteries today are limited by safety-related concerns, causing rapid capacity fade and short cycling capability.<br/><br/>The special challenges associated with high-energy batteries that utilize reactive metal anodes include not only the non-uniform electrodeposition (dendrite problem), but also electrode volume change, aggravated adverse reactions forming poor solid electrolyte interface (SEI), and so forth, which are significant at both the research laboratory stage and for commercial engineering practice. Challenges for metal anodes include poor cyclability made up of over-potential and coulomb efficiency, and safety problem caused by thermal runaway, which can be summarized into three aspects in nature, covered with non-uniform electrodeposition, relative infinite volume change and high reactivity. The development of metal batteries presents great opportunities and also opens up significant challenges. Achieving high-energy and stable LMBs which can meet the requirements for broad applications in energy storage systems is critical and urgent.

Stabilization of lithium electrodeposition via enhanced lithium ion transport properties at the electrode/electrolyte interface

2019 Spring National Meeting

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