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Dendrite‐Free Lithium Deposition via a Superfilling Mechanism for High‐Performance Li‐Metal Batteries
Author(s) -
Wang Qian,
Yang Chengkai,
Yang Jijin,
Wu Kai,
Hu Cejun,
Lu Jing,
Liu Wen,
Sun Xiaoming,
Qiu Jingyi,
Zhou Henghui
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
advanced materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.707
H-Index - 527
eISSN - 1521-4095
pISSN - 0935-9648
DOI - 10.1002/adma.201903248
Subject(s) - thiourea , electrolyte , materials science , dendrite (mathematics) , faraday efficiency , plating (geology) , lithium (medication) , deposition (geology) , battery (electricity) , current density , chemical engineering , lithium metal , nanotechnology , inorganic chemistry , electrode , chemistry , organic chemistry , mathematics , geophysics , endocrinology , engineering , biology , paleontology , power (physics) , geometry , quantum mechanics , medicine , physics , sediment , geology
Abstract Uncontrollable Li dendrite growth and low Coulombic efficiency severely hinder the application of lithium metal batteries. Although a lot of approaches have been developed to control Li deposition, most of them are based on inhibiting lithium deposition on protrusions, which can suppress Li dendrite growth at low current density, but is inefficient for practical battery applications, with high current density and large area capacity. Here, a novel leveling mechanism based on accelerating Li growth in concave fashion is proposed, which enables uniform and dendrite‐free Li plating by simply adding thiourea into the electrolyte. The small thiourea molecules can be absorbed on the Li metal surface and promote Li growth with a superfilling effect. With 0.02 m thiourea added in the electrolyte, Li | Li symmetrical cells can be cycled over 1000 cycles at 5.0 mA cm −2 , and a full cell with LiFePO 4 | Li configuration can even maintain 90% capacity after 650 cycles at 5.0 C. The superfilling effect is also verified by computational chemistry and numerical simulation, and can be expanded to a series of small chemicals using as electrolyte additives. It offers a new avenue to dendrite‐free lithium deposition and may also be expanded to other battery chemistries.