Science Daily October 6, 2022
Anode-free Li metal batteries can increase energy density beyond that of standard lithium-ion batteries. The absence of Li reservoir generates unwarranted volume expansion, permitting electrolyte depletion and rapid cathode capacity consumption. To address this issue researchers in South Korea developed an anode-free Li metal battery with an ion-conductive layer coated with Cu current collector Ag/L in typical carbonate-based electrolytes. The ion-conducting layer causes stable solid electrolyte interphase development and allows for minimal volume expansion when utilizing stable Li hosts. Via density functional theory calculation and experimental measurements and analysis, they demonstrated the beneficial effect of Li hosting behavior of the ion-conductive layer. To prove material compatibility, they used argyrodite sulfide solid electrolytes instead of liquid electrolytes, which showed Coulombic efficiency of 97% at 50 cycles in all-solid-state Li half-cells…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
An electrode was manufactured by coating an ion conductive layer composed of polyethyleneimine polymer, silver, lithium salt, and carbon black on the surface of a copper current collector. Credit: POSTECH