Development of an in situ polymerized artificial layer for dendrite-free and stable lithium metal batteries

Abstract

Severe lithium dendrite issues bring a significant challenge for the practical application of Li metal anodes. In this study, a scalable spray-coating method is used to in situ construct an organic/inorganic composite interfacial layer including Li-Zn alloy and lithium polyacrylate on the surface of lithium metal. The Li-Zn alloy exhibits favorable lithiophilic and high Li⁺ diffusion coefficient, whereas highly elastic lithium polyacrylate is a Li⁺ conductor and provides excellent mechanical properties. Finally, the ZA-Li||ZA-Li cell shows stable cycling for over 1800 h with 1mAcm⁻² at 2 h per cycle, which demonstrates a pronounced inhibition of lithium dendrite growth. Based on the above merits, this work would open a new avenue to develop advanced artificial interfacial layer with multiple capabilities for high-performance lithium metal batteries.

Keywords

alloy / interfacial layer / lithium metal anode / metallic dendrite / organic/inorganic solid interface

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2024 The Authors. Battery Energy published by Xijing University and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.