Suppressing electrolyte-lithium metal reactivity via Li<sup>+</sup>-desolvation in uniform nano-porous separator.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 35013293.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-021-27841-0 and PMC identifier 8748786.
- 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
Lithium reactivity with electrolytes leads to their continuous consumption and dendrite growth, which constitute major obstacles to harnessing the tremendous energy of lithium-metal anode in a reversible manner. Considerable attention has been focused on inhibiting dendrite via interface and electrolyte engineering, while admitting electrolyte-lithium metal reactivity as a thermodynamic inevitability. Here, we report the effective suppression of such reactivity through a nano-porous separator. Calculation assisted by diversified characterizations reveals that the separator partially desolvates Li<sup>+</sup> in confinement created by its uniform nanopores, and deactivates solvents for electrochemical reduction before Li<sup>0</sup>-deposition occurs. The consequence of such deactivation is realizing dendrite-free lithium-metal electrode, which even retaining its metallic lustre after long-term cycling in both Li-symmetric cell and high-voltage Li-metal battery with LiNi<sub>0.6</sub>Mn<sub>0.2</sub>Co<sub>0.2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> as cathode. The discovery that a nano-structured separator alters both bulk and interfacial behaviors of electrolytes points us toward a new direction to harness lithium-metal as the most promising anode.