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Transferring Liquid Metal to form a Hybrid Solid Electrolyte via a Wettability-Tuning Technology for Lithium-Metal Anodes

Journal Article · · Advanced Materials

Integrating solid-state electrolyte (SSE) into Li-metal anodes has demonstrated great promise to unleash the high energy density of rechargeable Li-metal batteries. However, fabricating a highly cyclable SSE/Li-metal anode remains a major challenge because the densification of the SSE is usually incompatible with the reactive Li metal. Here, a liquid-metal-derived hybrid solid electrolyte (HSE) is proposed, and a facile transfer technology to construct an artificial HSE on the Li metal is reported. By tuning the wettability of the transfer substrates, electron- and ion-conductive liquid metal is sandwiched between electron-insulating and ion-conductive LiF and oxides to form the HSE. The transfer technology renders the HSE continuous, dense, and uniform. The HSE, having high ion transport, electron shut-off, and mechanical strength, makes the composite anode deliver excellent cyclability for over 4000 h at 0.5 mA cm(-2) and 1 mAh cm(-2) in a symmetrical cell. When pairing with LiFePO4 and sulfur cathodes, the HSE-coated Li metal dramatically enhances the performance of full cells. Therefore, this work demonstrates that tuning the interfacial wetting properties provides an alternate approach to build a robust solid electrolyte, which enables highly efficient Li-metal anodes.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) - U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center (CERC); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) - Office of Vehicle Technologies (VTO); National Key Research and Development Program of China
DOE Contract Number:
AC02-06CH11357
OSTI ID:
1922836
Journal Information:
Advanced Materials, Vol. 34, Issue 17
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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