Lithium spreading layer consisting of nickel particles enables stable cycling of aluminum anode in all-solid-state battery

Abstract

Developing promising substitutes of lithium (Li) metal anode that suffers from a serious interfacial instability against the solid electrolyte (SE) is a formidable challenge for the all-solid-state battery. Aluminum (Al), a highly potential candidate owing to its high specific capacity and relatively low working potential, however, cannot withstand stable cycling in all-solid-state battery due to the fast structural collapse caused by the solid/solid contact at the Al/SE interface. Herein, a Li spreading layer consisting of metallic nickel (Ni) particles at the Al surface is proposed to raise the performance of Al anode in all-solid-state battery. Owing to the immiscibility between Ni and Li solid phases, this Li spreading layer can enable a uniform distribution of Li atoms over the electrode surface followed by a stable Li–Al alloying/dealloying processes, suppressing the stress deformation at the Al/SE interface and significantly improving the cycling performance of Al anode in all-solid-state battery. The modified Al anode not only outperforms the bare Al significantly, but also exhibits superior cyclability and rate ability compared with the Li anode. This work provides an efficient strategy to promote the application of Al anode in all-solid-state battery, and is expected to be generalized for other alloy anodes.

Keywords

Al anode / all-solid-state battery / Li–Al alloy / Ni particle / solid electrolyte

References

[1] Xia S, Wu X, Zhang Z, Cui Y, Liu W. Practical challenges and future perspectives of all-solid-state lithium-metal batteries. Chem. 2019;5:753-785.

[2] Ding Y, Li Y, Wu Z-S. Recent advances and challenges in the design of Li-air batteries oriented solid-state electrolytes. Battery Energy. 2023;2:20220014.

[3] Guo B, Zhang L, Tang Y, Huang J. A review of all-solid-state lithium-selenium batteries. Battery Energy. 2024;3:20230041.

[4] Sun H, Celadon A, Cloutier SG, Al-Haddad K, Sun S, Zhang G. Lithium dendrites in all-solid-state batteries: from formation to suppression. Battery Energy. 2024;3:20230062.

[5] Santhosha AL, Medenbach L, Buchheim JR, Adelhelm P. The indium−lithium electrode in solid-state lithium-ion batteries: phase formation, redox potentials, and interface stability. Batteries Supercaps. 2019;2:524-529.

[6] Luo S, Wang Z, Li X, et al. Growth of lithium-indium dendrites in all-solidstate lithium-based batteries with sulfide electrolytes. Nat Commun. 2021;12:6968.

[7] Aspinall J, Chart Y, Guo H, Shrestha P, Burton M, Pasta M. Effect of microstructure on the cycling behavior of Li−In alloy anodes for solid-state batteries. ACS Energy Lett. 2024;9:578-585.

[8] Tan DHS, Chen Y-T. Yang H, et al. Carbon-free high-loading silicon anodes enabled by sulfide solid electrolytes. Science. 2021;373:1494-1499.

[9] Yan W, Mu Z, Wang Z, et al. Hard-carbon-stabilized Li-Si anodes for high-performance all-solid-state Li-ion batteries. Nat Energy. 2023;8:800-813.

[10] Ping W, Yang C, Bao Y, et al. A silicon anode for garnet-based all-solid-state batteries: interfaces and nanomechanics. Energy Storage Mater. 2019;21:246-252.

[11] Cangaz S, Hippauf F, Reuter FS, et al. Enabling high-energy solid-state batteries with stable anode interphase by the use of columnar silicon anodes. Adv Energy Mater. 2020;10:2001320.

[12] Choi JW, Aurbach D. Promise and reality of post-lithium-ion batteries with high energy densities. Nat Rev Mater. 2016;1:16013.

[13] Massalski TB, Okamoto H. Binary Alloy Phase Diagrams. ASM International;1990.

[14] Qu S, Jia W, Wang Y, et al. Air-stable lithium metal anode with sputtered aluminum coating layer for improved performance. Electrochim Acta. 2019;317:120-127.

[15] Li H, Yamaguchi T, Matsumoto S, et al. Circumventing huge volume strain in alloy anodes of lithium batteries. Nat Commun. 2020;11:1584.

[16] Bang HJ, Kim S, Prakash J. Electrochemical investigations of lithium-aluminum alloy anode in Li/polymer cells. J Power Sources. 2001;92:45-49.

[17] Zhang W-J. A review of the electrochemical performance of alloy anodes for lithium-ion batteries. J Power Sources. 2011;196:13-24.

[18] Pan H, Zhang M, Cheng Z, et al. Carbon-free and binder-free Li-Al alloy anode enabling an all-solid-state Li-S battery with high energy and stability. Sci Adv. 2022;8:eabN4372.

[19] Liu Y, Wang C, Yoon SG, et al. Aluminum foil negative electrodes with multiphase microstructure for all-solid-state Li-ion batteries. Nat Commun. 2023;14:3975.

[20] Bieker G, Winter M, Bieker P. Electrochemical in situ investigations of SEI and dendrite formation on the lithium metal anode. Phys Chem Chem Phys. 2015;17:8670-8679.

[21] Xiao J. How lithium dendrites form in liquid batteries. Science. 2019;366:426-427.

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

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