Stabilizing lithium metal using ionic liquids for long-lived batteries.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 27292652.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/ncomms11794 and PMC identifier 4909938.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Suppressing dendrite formation at lithium metal anodes during cycling is critical for the implementation of future lithium metal-based battery technology. Here we report that it can be achieved via the facile process of immersing the electrodes in ionic liquid electrolytes for a period of time before battery assembly. This creates a durable and lithium ion-permeable solid-electrolyte interphase that allows safe charge-discharge cycling of commercially applicable Li|electrolyte|LiFePO4 batteries for 1,000 cycles with Coulombic efficiencies >99.5%. The tailored solid-electrolyte interphase is prepared using a variety of electrolytes based on the N-propyl-N-methylpyrrolidinium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide room temperature ionic liquid containing lithium salts. The formation is both time- and lithium salt-dependant, showing dynamic morphology changes, which when optimized prevent dendrite formation and consumption of electrolyte during cycling. This work illustrates that a simple, effective and industrially applicable lithium metal pretreatment process results in a commercially viable cycle life for a lithium metal battery.