Science Daily July 3, 2024
Anode-free batteries possess the optimal cell architecture due to their reduced weight, volume and cost. However, their implementation has been limited by unstable anode morphological changes and anode–liquid electrolyte interface reactions. An international team of researchers (USA – UC San Diego, University of Chicago, University of Korea) showed that an electrochemically stable solid electrolyte and the application of stack pressure could solve these issues by enabling the deposition of dense sodium metal. An aluminium current collector was found to achieve intimate solid–solid contact with the solid electrolyte, which allowed highly reversible sodium plating and stripping at both high areal capacities and current densities. They demonstrated sodium anode-free all-solid-state battery with stable cycling for several hundred cycles. According to the researchers their cell architecture serves as a future direction for other battery chemistries to enable low-cost, high-energy-density and fast-charging batteries… read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Anode-free schematics and energy density calculations. Credit: Nature Energy , 3 July, 2024