Tuning wettability of molten lithium via a chemical strategy for lithium metal anodes.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 31666514.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-019-12938-4 and PMC identifier 6821877.
- 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
Metallic lithium affords the highest theoretical capacity and lowest electrochemical potential and is viewed as a leading contender as an anode for high-energy-density rechargeable batteries. However, the poor wettability of molten lithium does not allow it to spread across the surface of lithiophobic substrates, hindering the production and application of this anode. Here we report a general chemical strategy to overcome this dilemma by reacting molten lithium with functional organic coatings or elemental additives. The Gibbs formation energy and newly formed chemical bonds are found to be the governing factor for the wetting behavior. As a result of the improved wettability, a series of ultrathin lithium of 10-20 μm thick is obtained together with impressive electrochemical performance in lithium metal batteries. These findings provide an overall guide for tuning the wettability of molten lithium and offer an affordable strategy for the large-scale production of ultrathin lithium, and could be further extended to other alkali metals, such as sodium and potassium.