Interfacial Evolution of Lithium Dendrites and Their Solid Electrolyte Interphase Shells of Quasi‐Solid‐State Lithium‐Metal Batteries

Unstable electrode/solid‐state electrolyte interfaces and internal lithium dendrite penetration hamper the applications of solid‐state lithium‐metal batteries (SSLMBs), and the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. Herein, in situ optical microscopy provides insights into the lithium plating/stripping processes in a gel polymer electrolyte and reveals its dynamic evolution. Spherical lithium deposits evolve into moss‐like and branch‐shaped lithium dendrites with increasing current densities. Remarkably, the on‐site‐formed solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) shell on the lithium dendrite is distinctly captured after lithium stripping. Inducing an on‐site‐formed SEI shell with an enhanced modulus to wrap the lithium precipitation densely and uniformly can regulate dendrite‐free behaviors. An in‐depth understanding of lithium dendrite evolution and its functional SEI shell will aid in the optimization of SSLMBs.     

金属锂负极失效机制及其先进表征技术

尽管传统的石墨负极在商业化锂离子电池中取得了成功,但其理论容量低(372 mAh·g^?1)、本身不含锂的先天缺陷限制了其在下一代高比能量锂电池体系中的应用,特别是在需要锂源的锂-硫和锂-空气电池体系中。金属锂因其极高的理论比容量(3860 mAh·g^?1)和低氧化还原电势(相对于标准氢电极为?3.040 V),被认为是下一代锂电池负极材料的最佳选择之一。但是,金属锂负极存在库伦效率低、循环性能差、安全性差等一系列瓶颈问题亟待解决,而循环过程中锂枝晶的生长、巨大的体积变化、以及电极界面不稳定等是导致这些问题的关键因素。本文综述了近年来关于金属锂负极瓶颈问题及其机理,包括金属锂电极表面固态电解质界面膜的形成,锂枝晶的生长行为,以及惰性死锂的形成。同时,本文还介绍了目前用于研究金属锂负极的先进表征技术,这些技术为研究人员深入认识金属锂负极的失效机制提供了重要信息。     

Catalytic Chemistry Derived Artificial Solid Electrolyte Interphase for Stable Lithium Metal Anodes Working at 20 mA cm−2 and 20 mAh cm−2

A stable solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer is crucial for lithium metal anode (LMA) to survive in long-term cycling. However, chaotic structures and chemical inhomogeneity of natural SEI make LMA suffering from exasperating dendrite growth and severe electrode pulverization, which hinder the practical application of LMAs. Here, we design a catalyst-derived artificial SEI layer with an ordered polyamide-lithium hydroxide (PA-LiOH) bi-phase structure to modulate ion transport and enable dendrite-free Li deposition. The PA-LiOH layer can substantially suppress the volume changes of LMA during Li plating/stripping cycles, as well as alleviate the parasitic reactions between LMA and electrolyte. The optimized LMAs demonstrate excellent stability in Li plating/stripping cycles for over 1000 hours at an ultra-high current density of 20 mA cm⁻² in Li||Li symmetric cells. A high coulombic efficiency up to 99.2 % in Li half cells in additive-free electrolytes is achieved even after 500 cycles at a current density of 1 mA cm⁻² with a capacity of 1 mAh cm⁻².     

人工界面层在金属锂负极中的应用

金属锂具有极高的比容量(3860 mAh·g^?1)和最低的电化学反应电位(相对标准氢电位为?3.040 V),被认为是高能量密度二次电池最具潜力的负极材料。然而金属锂负极界面稳定性差、不可控的枝晶生长、沉积/剥离过程中巨大的体积变化等严重阻碍了金属锂负极的商业化应用。在金属锂表面构建一层物理化学性质稳定的人工界面保护层被认为是解决金属锂负极界面不稳定和枝晶生长,缓解体积膨胀带来的界面波动等一系列问题的有效手段。本综述依据界面传导性质,从离子导通而电子绝缘的人工固态电解质界面(SEI)层、离子/电子混合传导界面、纳米界面钝化层三个部分对人工界面保护层进行了归纳总结。分析了人工界面保护层的物质结构与性能之间的构效关系,探讨了如何提高人工界面保护层的物理化学稳定性、界面离子输运、界面强度与柔韧性、界面兼容性等。最后,指出用于金属锂负极的人工界面保护层目前面临的主要挑战,并对其未来的发展进行了展望。     

Highly Stable Lithium Metal Batteries Enabled by Regulating the Solvation of Lithium Ions in Nonaqueous Electrolytes

Safe and rechargeable lithium metal batteries have been difficult to achieve because of the formation of lithium dendrites. Herein an emerging electrolyte based on a simple solvation strategy is proposed for highly stable lithium metal anodes in both coin and pouch cells. Fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC) and lithium nitrate (LiNO₃) were concurrently introduced into an electrolyte, thus altering the solvation sheath of lithium ions, and forming a uniform solid electrolyte interphase (SEI), with an abundance of LiF and LiN_xO_y on a working lithium metal anode with dendrite‐free lithium deposition. Ultrahigh Coulombic efficiency (99.96 %) and long lifespans (1000 cycles) were achieved when the FEC/LiNO₃ electrolyte was applied in working batteries. The solvation chemistry of electrolyte was further explored by molecular dynamics simulations and first‐principles calculations. This work provides insight into understanding the critical role of the solvation of lithium ions in forming the SEI and delivering an effective route to optimize electrolytes for safe lithium metal batteries.     

In-situ nanoscale insights into the evolution of solid electrolyte interphase shells: revealing interfacial degradation in lithium metal batteries

The solid electrolyte interphase(SEI) has caught considerable attention as a pivotal factor affecting lithium(Li) metal battery performances. However, the understanding of the interfacial evolution and properties of the on-site formed SEI shells on Li deposits during cycling is still at a preliminary stage. Here, we provide a straightforward visualized evidence of SEI shells' evolution during Li deposition/stripping to reveal anode degradation via in-situ atomic force microscopy(AFM). Nucleation and growth of quasi-spherical Li particles are observed on a Cu substrate, followed by Li stripping and collapse of SEI shells. In the subsequent cycling, new Li deposits tend to nucleate at pristine sites with fresh SEI shells forming on Li. The previously collapsed SEI shells accumulate to increase interface impedance, eventually leading to capacity degradation. Revealing the electrochemical processes and interfacial degradation at the nanoscale will enrich fundamental comprehension and further guide improvement strategies of Li metal anodes.     

Constructing Solid Electrolyte Interphase for Aqueous Zinc Batteries

Problems of zinc anode including dendrite and hydrogen evolution seriously degrade the performance of zinc batteries. Solid electrolyte interphase (SEI), which plays a key role in achieving high reversibility of lithium anode in aprotic organic solvent, is also beneficial to performance improvement of zinc anode in aqueous electrolyte. However, various studies about interphase for zinc electrode is quite fragmented, and lack of deep understanding on root causes or general design rules for SEI construction. And water molecules with high reactivity brings serious challenge to the effective SEI construction. Here, we reviewed the brief development history of zinc batteries firstly, then summarized the approaches to construct SEI in aqueous electrolyte. Furthermore, the formation mechanisms behind approaches are systematically analyzed, together with discussion on the SEI components and evaluation on electrochemical performance of zinc anode with various types of SEI. Meanwhile, the challenge between lab and industrialization are also discussed.     

计算模拟在锂金属负极研究中的应用

锂金属以其高比容量和低电极电势,在高能量密度电池领域具有极大潜力,然而界面反应复杂、枝晶生长难以抑制等问题,导致电池易燃易爆、容易击穿短路,极大地限制了锂电池的应用。计算模拟有助于科研工作者认识反应机理、预测筛选电极材料以及优化电池设计,与实验相辅相成。本文对近年计算模拟在锂金属电极中的应用进行综述,重点在于利用分子动力学、第一性原理计算等计算方法,研究界面反应、固体电解质膜以及锂形核。此外,新开发的固态电解质很好地解决了传统锂电池易燃易爆等问题,提高了能量密度,但也存在界面阻力大、传导性能差以及枝晶生长等问题,对此,我们就计算模拟在固态电解质锂电池中锂负极的应用进行综述。最后,我们论述了该领域潜在研究方向。     

脉冲电沉积抑制锂枝晶生成的研究

采用脉冲充电方法替代传统充电方法,研究了在有机电解液 0.5 mol·L^-1 LiBr/PC (碳酸丙烯酯)中,在铜电极上沉积锂的表面变化. 扫描电镜观测结果显示,在传统直流充电时电极表面明显地出现了枝晶,而使用脉冲充电时能够抑制枝晶的生长. 交流阻抗测试结果显示,在占空比为 0.5 时,沉积锂表面固体电解质界面(solid electrolyte interphase,SEI)膜电阻最大,沉积锂表面枝晶较少;单次脉冲电沉积时间过长,会使沉积锂表面 SEI 膜电阻减小,沉积锂表面枝晶增加;电流密度大于等于 2 mA·cm^-2时,脉冲电沉积可有效抑制枝晶生长.     

Engineering and characterization of interphases for lithium metal anodes

Lithium metal is a very promising anode material for achieving high energy density for next generation battery systems due to its low redox potential and high theoretical specific capacity of 3860 mA h g⁻¹. However, dendrite formation and low coulombic efficiency during cycling greatly hindered its practical applications. The formation of a stable solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) on the lithium metal anode (LMA) holds the key to resolving these problems. A lot of techniques such as electrolyte modification, electrolyte additive introduction, and artificial SEI layer coating have been developed to form a stable SEI with capability to facilitate fast Li⁺ transportation and to suppress Li dendrite formation and undesired side reactions. It is well accepted that the chemical and physical properties of the SEI on the LMA are closely related to the kinetics of Li⁺ transport across the electrolyte–electrode interface and Li deposition behavior, which in turn affect the overall performance of the cell. Unfortunately, the chemical and structural complexity of the SEI makes it the least understood component of the battery cell. Recently various advanced in situ and ex situ characterization techniques have been developed to study the SEI and the results are quite interesting. Therefore, an overview about these new findings and development of SEI engineering and characterization is quite valuable to the battery research community. In this perspective, different strategies of SEI engineering are summarized, including electrolyte modification, electrolyte additive application, and artificial SEI construction. In addition, various advanced characterization techniques for investigating the SEI formation mechanism are discussed, including in situ visualization of the lithium deposition behavior, the quantification of inactive lithium, and using X-rays, neutrons and electrons as probing beams for both imaging and spectroscopy techniques with typical examples.

Different strategies of SEI engineering such as modification, additive application, and artificial SEI for electrolyte are summarized. Characterization techniques for SEI studies using X-ray, neutron, and electron as probing beams are discussed.     

固态锂电池界面优化策略的研究进展

固态锂电池具有安全性好、能量密度高等优点,在新能源汽车和智能电子等领域具有广泛的应用前景。然而,由化学/电化学和物理因素引起的界面副反应与高界面阻抗问题制约了其进一步发展。先前的综述已对解决化学/电化学界面问题的方法有了相对全面的阐述,但并未细致讨论不同结构固态电池中物理界面的影响及应对策略。本文将简要介绍化学/电化学界面问题及其解决方案;重点按结构特点将固态锂电池分为三明治结构、粉末复合结构和3D一体化结构,细致地分析不同电池结构的物理界面特点与优化策略,并对各种策略的优缺点进行比较分析;最后,对固态锂电池电极/电解质界面的未来研究方向进行展望。     

锂金属负极人造保护膜的研究进展

金属锂因其具有极高的理论容量(3860 mAh·g^?1)、最低的电极电位(?3.04 V vs.标准氢电极)和低的密度(0.534 g·cm^?3),被认为是最具潜力的负极材料。但循环过程中不可控的枝晶生长及不稳定的固体电解质相界面膜所引起的安全隐患和电池库伦效率低等问题严重阻碍了锂金属负极的发展。通过在电极表面构建人造保护膜可以有效调控锂离子沉积行为,因此人造保护膜的构建是一种简单高效抑制锂枝晶生长的策略。本综述将从聚合物保护膜、无机保护膜、有机-无机复合保护膜和合金保护膜总结了人造保护膜的构建方法、抑制锂枝晶生长机理,为促进高比能锂金属电池的商业化应用提供借鉴参考作用。     

Constructing Co3O4 Nanowires on Carbon Fiber Film as a Lithiophilic Host for Stable Lithium Metal Anodes

Lithium metal has been considered as the most promising anode electrode for substantially improving the energy density of next‐generation energy storage devices. However, uncontrollable lithium dendrite growth, an unstable solid electrolyte interface (SEI), and infinite volume variation severely shortens its service lifespan and causes safety hazards, thus hindering the practical application of lithium metal electrodes. Here, carbon fiber film (CFF) modified by lithiophilic Co₃O₄ nanowires (denoted as Co₃O₄ Nws) was proposed as a matrix for prestoring lithium metal through a thermal infusion method. The homogeneous needle‐like Co₃O₄ nanowires can effectively promote molten lithium to infiltrate into the CFF skeleton. The post‐formed Co?Li₂O nanowires produced by the reaction of Co₃O₄ Nws and molten lithium can homogeneously distribute lithium ions flux and efficaciously increase the adsorption energy with lithium ions proved by density functional theory (DFT) calculation, boosting a uniform lithium deposition without dendrite growth. Therefore, the obtained composite anode (denoted as CFF/Co?Li₂O@Li) exhibits superior electrochemical performance with high stripping/plating capacities of 3 mAh cm^?2 and 5 mAh cm^?2 over long‐term cycles in symmetrical batteries. Moreover, in comparison with bare lithium anode, superior Coulombic efficiencies coupled with copper collector and full battery behaviors paired with LiFePO₄ cathode are achieved when CFF/Co?Li₂O@Li composite anode was employed.     

Strategic Approaches to the Dendritic Growth and Interfacial Reaction of Lithium Metal Anode

Utilization of lithium (Li) metal anode is highly desirable for achieving high energy density batteries. Even so, the unavoidable features of Li dendritic growth and inactive Li are still the main factors that hinder its practical application. During plating and stripping, the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer can provide passivation, playing an important role in preventing direct contact between the electrolyte and the electrode in Li metal batteries. Because of complexities of the electrolyte chemical and electrochemical reactions, the various formation mechanisms for the SEI are still not well understood. What we do know is that a strategic artificial SEI achieved through additives electrolyte can suppress the Li dendrites. Otherwise, the dendrites keep generating an abundance of irreversible Li, resulting in severe capacity loss, internal short-circuiting, and cell failure. In this minireview, we focus on the phenomenon of dendritic Li-growth and provide a brief overview of SEI formation. We finally provide some clear insights and perspectives toward practical application of Li metal batteries.     

功能化固态电解质膜改性锂金属负极的研究进展

对高比能量锂离子电池需求的不断增加激发了锂金属负极的应用研究。锂金属具有高放电比容量(3860 mAh·g^?1),低电极电位(?3.04 V),是锂离子电池的理想负极材料。然而,锂金属在循环过程中会形成不稳定的固态电解质(SEI)膜,而且会生成枝晶,枝晶的生长会引发电池短路等安全问题,极大地阻碍了其应用。理想的SEI膜应具有良好的锂离子传导性、表面电子绝缘性和机械强度,可调控锂离子在表面均匀沉积,促进离子传输,抑制枝晶生长,因此构筑功能化SEI膜是解决锂金属负极所面临挑战的一项有效策略。本综述以锂金属枝晶形成和生长的机理为出发点,分析总结SEI膜的构建策略、不同组成SEI膜的结构和功能特性及其对锂金属负极性能的影响,并对锂金属实用化面临的挑战及未来发展方向进行了展望。     

Electronic structure of lithium battery interphase compounds: comparison between inelastic x-ray scattering measurements and theory

In lithium ion batteries, decomposition of the electrolyte and its associated passivation of the electrode surface occurs at low potentials, resulting in an electronically insulating, but Li-ion conducting, solid electrolyte interphase (SEI). The products of the SEI and their chemical constituents/properties play an important role in the long-term stability and performance of the battery. Reactivity and the sub-keV core binding energies of lithium, carbon, oxygen, and fluorine species in the SEI present technical challenges in the spectroscopy of these compounds. Using an alternative approach, nonresonant inelastic x-ray scattering, we examine the near-edge spectra of bulk specimens of common SEI compounds, including LiF, Li(2)CO(3), LiOH, LiOH·H(2)O, and Li(2)O. By working at hard x-ray energies, we also experimentally differentiate the s- and p-symmetry components of lithium's unoccupied states using the evolution of its K edge with momentum transfer. We find good agreement with theoretical spectra calculated using a Bethe-Salpeter approach in all cases. These results provide an analytical and diagnostic foundation for better understanding of the makeup of SEIs and the mechanism of their formation.     

稳定锂电化学沉积和溶解行为的LiC6异质微结构界面层

本文采用机械辊压方法在金属锂表面通过原位固相反应生成LiC₆异质微结构界面层,并研究了在碳酸酯有机电解液体系下该异质层对锂电化学沉积和溶解行为的影响。通过形貌表征与电化学测试发现,LiC₆异质层能够有效提升锂电化学沉积的可逆性与均匀性,从而抑制枝晶生长及维持沉积/溶解界面的稳定。使用异质层改性金属锂负极的扣式全电池也较纯金属锂负极体系表现出更为优异的循环稳定性。     

Solvation Rule for Solid‐Electrolyte Interphase Enabler in Lithium‐Metal Batteries

Despite the exceptionally high energy density of lithium metal anodes, the practical application of lithium‐metal batteries (LMBs) is still impeded by the instability of the interphase between the lithium metal and the electrolyte. To formulate a functional electrolyte system that can stabilize the lithium‐metal anode, the solvation behavior of the solvent molecules must be understood because the electrochemical properties of a solvent can be heavily influenced by its solvation status. We unambiguously demonstrated the solvation rule for the solid‐electrolyte interphase (SEI) enabler in an electrolyte system. In this study, fluoroethylene carbonate was used as the SEI enabler due to its ability to form a robust SEI on the lithium metal surface, allowing relatively stable LMB cycling. The results revealed that the solvation number of fluoroethylene carbonate must be ≥1 to ensure the formation of a stable SEI in which the sacrificial reduction of the SEI enabler subsequently leads to the stable cycling of LMBs.     

PIM-1 as an artificial solid electrolyte interphase for stable lithium metal anode in high-performance batteries

Lithium metal anode is a promising electrode with high theoretical specific capacity and low electrode potential.However,its unstable interface and low Coulombic efficiency,resulting from the dendritic growth of lithium,limits its commercial application.PIM-1(PIM:polymer of intrinsic microporosity),which is a polymer with abundant micropores,exhibits high rigidity and flexibility with contorted spirocenters in the backbone,and is an ideal candidate for artificial solid electrolyte interphases(SEI).In this work,a PIM-1 membrane was synthesized and fabricated as a protective membrane on the surface of an electrode to facilitate the uniform flux of Li ions and act as a stable interface for the lithium plating/stripping process.Nodule-like lithium with rounded edges was observed under the PIM-1 membrane.The Li@PIM-1 electrode delivered a high average Coulombic efficiency(99.7%),excellent cyclability(80%capacity retention rate after 600 cycles at 1 C),and superior rate capability(125.3 m Ah g~(-1) at 10 C).Electrochemical impedance spectrum(EIS)showed that the PIM-1 membrane could lower the diffusion rate of Li~+ significantly and change the rate-determining step from charge transfer to Li~+diffusion.Thus,the PIM-1 membrane is proven to act as an artificial SEI to facilitate uniform and stable deposition of lithium,in favor of obtaining a compact and dense Li-plating pattern.This work extends the application of PIMs in the field of lithium batteries and provides ideas for the construction of artificial SEI.     

多酚类化合物—丹宁酸用作锂金属负极电解液成膜添加剂

As the application of lithium-ion batteries in advanced consumer electronics, energy storage systems, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and electric vehicles increases, there has emerged an urgent need for increasing the energy density of such batteries. Lithium metal anode is considered as the "Holy Grail" for high-energy-density electrochemical energy storage systems because of its low reduction potential (-3.04 V vs standard hydrogen electrode) and high theoretical specific capacity (3860 mAh·g^-1). However, the practical application of lithium metal anode in rechargeable batteries is severely limited by irregular lithium dendrite growth and high reactivity with the electrolytes, leading to poor safety performance and low coulombic efficiency. Recent research progress has been well documented to suppress dendrite growth for achieving long-term stability of lithium anode, such as building artificial protection layers, developing novel electrolyte additives, constructing solid electrolytes, using functional separator, designing composite electrode or three-dimensional lithium-hosted material. Among them, the use of electrolyte additives is regarded as one of the most effective and economical methods to improve the performance of lithium-ion batteries. As a natural polyphenol compound, tannic acid (TA) is significantly cheaper and more abundant compared with dopamine, which is widely used for the material preparation and modification in the field of lithium-ion batteries. Herein, TA is first reported as an efficient electrolyte film-forming additive for lithium metal anode. By adding 0.15% (mass fraction, wt.) TA into the base electrolyte of 1 mol·L^-1 LiPF₆-EC/DMC/EMC (1 : 1 : 1, by wt.), the symmetric Li|Li cell exhibited a more stable cyclability of 270 h than that of only 170 h observed for the Li|Li cell without TA under the same current density of 1 mA·cm^-2 and capacity of 1 mAh·cm^-2 (with a cutoff voltage of 0.1 V). Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry (CV), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) analyses demonstrated that TA participated in the formation of a dense solid electrolyte interface (SEI) layer on the surface of the lithium metal. A possible reaction mechanism is proposed here, wherein the small amount of added polyphenol compound could have facilitated the formation of LiF through the hydrolysis of LiPF₆, following which the resulting phenoxide could react with dimethyl carbonate (DMC) through transesterification to form a cross-linked polymer, thereby forming a unique organic/inorganic composite SEI film that significantly improved the electrochemical performance of the lithium metal anode. These results demonstrate that TA can be used as a promising film-forming additive for the lithium metal anode.