Design Principle, Optimization Strategies, and Future Perspectives of Anode-Free Configurations for High-Energy Rechargeable Metal Batteries

Wentao Yao; Peichao Zou; Min Wang; Houchao Zhan; Feiyu Kang; Cheng Yang

doi:10.1007/s41918-021-00106-6

Electrochemical Energy Reviews ›› 2021, Vol. 4 ›› Issue (3) : 601 -631. DOI: 10.1007/s41918-021-00106-6

Review Article

Design Principle, Optimization Strategies, and Future Perspectives of Anode-Free Configurations for High-Energy Rechargeable Metal Batteries

Wentao Yao ¹
, Peichao Zou ¹^,³^,^b
, Min Wang ¹^,²
, Houchao Zhan ¹^,²
, Feiyu Kang ¹^,²
, Cheng Yang ¹^,^f

Author information +

¹Institute of Materials Research, Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, 518055, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China

²School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, 100084, Beijing, China

³Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, 92697, Irvine, CA, USA

^b peichaoz@uci.edu

^f yang.cheng@sz.tsinghua.edu.cn

Wentao Yao

received his Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics from the Michigan Technological University (MTU, USA) in 2018. After graduation, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher in Prof. Cheng Yang’s group at the Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School. His research interests include the growth of transitional metal oxides as well as their charge storage mechanism and functionalities in various energy storage devices.

Peichao Zou

is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the University of California, Irvine (UCI, USA) since 2019. He received his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the Tsinghua University in July 2019. He visited the Nanyang Technological University (NTU, Singapore) as a joint cultivated postgraduate student in 2017. His research interests are focusing on the field-induced synthesis and growth regulation of metallic micro-/nano-structures for metal batteries and electrolytic water splitting applications. He has published over 35 peer-reviewed papers on Nature Commun., Energy Environ. Sci., Adv. Mater., and Adv. Funct. Mater., etc.

Min Wang

received her Bachelor’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering from the Central South University in 2017, and Master’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering from the Tsinghua University in 2020. Her research interests focus on the design and preparation of electrochemical energy storage devices.

Houchao Zhan

received his B.S. degree from the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in 2018. He is currently a postgraduate student in the Division of Energy and Environment, Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School under the supervision of Prof. Cheng Yang. His research interests focus on the preparation of nanomaterials and their application for batteries and supercapacitors.

Feiyu Kang

is a world-renowned scientist in carbon-based materials and energy storage materials, dedicated in the development of natural graphite deep processing technology and high safety rechargeable batteries. He has published more than 500 papers in academic journals and co-authored 6 monographs. He has filed more than 130 Chinese, USA and PCT patents. Thirty-two patented technologies have been transferred and applied, with patent transfer fees and equity reaching over 88 million RMB. He won the second prize of National Technology Invention of China (ranking the first), the third prize of National Technology Invention of China (ranking the third), the first prize of two provincial and ministerial natural sciences (ranking the first), the first prize of provincial and ministerial invention (ranking the first), and the mayor’s prize of the Shenzhen Science and Technology Award. He presides the National Basic Research Program of China, two key projects of National Science Foundation of China, and 863 projects of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China.

Cheng Yang

received his PhD in Chemistry, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2007. Then, he worked as a post-doc in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and was a visiting research faculty in the School of Materials Science and Technology, Georgia Institute of Technology. He has been an Associate Professor in the Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School since 2011. His research group mainly focuses on the mechanism and fabrication methodology of hierarchical functional nanostructures under non-equilibrium thermodynamics conditions and their applications in functional devices. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers, including Nat. Commun. (2), Adv. Mater. (3), Energy Environ. Sci. (6), etc. and filed over 70 Chinese and USA patents, among which 6 were successfully transferred and applied in industry. He was awarded the China Invention & Innovation Award (the first prize, ranked the first), the China Industry-University Research Cooperation Innovation Award (the second prize, ranked the second), the Guangdong Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars, the Guangdong Distinguished Young Scholar Award, and the New Scientist Award of Tsinghua University.

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Abstract

Metal anodes (e.g., lithium, sodium and zinc metal anodes) based on a unique plating/stripping mechanism have been well recognized as the most promising anodes for next-generation high-energy metal batteries owing to their superior theoretical specific capacities and low redox potentials. However, realizing full utilization and the theoretical capacity of metal anodes remains challenging because of their high reactivity, poor reversibility, and nonplanar metal evolution patterns, which lead to irreversible loss of active metals and the electrolyte. To minimize the above issues, excess metal sources and flooded electrolytes are generally used for laboratory-based studies. Despite the superior cycling performance achieved for these cells, the metal-anode-excess design deviates from practical applications due to the low anode utilization, highly inflated coulombic efficiency, and undesirable volumetric capacity. In contrast, anode-free configurations can overcome these drawbacks while reducing fabrication costs and improving cell safety. In this review, the significance of anode-free configurations is elaborated, and different types of anode-free cells are introduced, including reported designs and proposed feasible yet unexplored concepts. The optimization strategies for anode-free lithium, sodium, zinc, and aluminum metal batteries are summarized. Most importantly, the remaining challenges for extending the cycle life of anode-free cells are discussed, and the requirements for anode-free cells to reach practical applications are highlighted. This comprehensive review is expected to draw more attention to anode-free configurations and bring new inspiration to the design of high-energy metal batteries.

Graphic Abstract

Anode-free metal batteries can deliver higher energy densities than traditional anode-excess metal batteries and metal-ion batteries. Yet the cycle life of anode-free cells is limited by the non-planar growth and low coulombic efficiency of the metal anodes. In this review, we not only systematically elaborate the working/failure mechanisms and achieved progress for the reported anode-free Li/Na/Zn/Al battery systems, but also propose a series of conceptually-feasible yet unexplored anode-free systems.

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Wentao Yao, Peichao Zou, Min Wang, Houchao Zhan, Feiyu Kang, Cheng Yang. Design Principle, Optimization Strategies, and Future Perspectives of Anode-Free Configurations for High-Energy Rechargeable Metal Batteries. Electrochemical Energy Reviews, 2021, 4(3): 601-631 DOI:10.1007/s41918-021-00106-6