Title: Understanding the critical chemistry to inhibit lithium consumption in lean lithium metal composite anodes

Abstract

Lithium metal has been deemed by many as the “Holy Grail” of anode materials due to its high theoretical capacity (~3860 mA h g^-1), redox potential of -3.040 V vs. SHE, and light weight. The goal of this work is to investigate the relationship between a lean lithium metal anode and its consumption as a function of host materials, electrochemical protocol and electrolyte composition. With the use of carbon nanofibers, lithium metal has been electrodeposited onto the host matrix and used in a battery with a LiNi_0.6Mn_0.2Co_0.2O₂ cathode. The mass-loading of lithium can be easily controlled and utilized to investigate the practicality of an anode limited battery (i.e., limited lithium with an effective thickness <15 μm) in a high surface area matrix. We then quantify the consumption rate of active lithium using different electrolyte additives and current rates in full cells and observe that the lithium consumption behavior in an anode-limited cell is different from that in an anode-excess cell. Our results highlight the necessity of applying truly lithium-limited cells when evaluating the electrochemical properties of lithium anodes and electrolyte additives. By extending this method to a standard graphite host, full cells can retain 75% of their initial capacities aftermore » 1000 cycles. The present study demonstrates the importance of graphitic carbon in increasing the lifespan of limited lithium (<15 μm) for practical lithium metal batteries.« less

Authors:

Kautz, David J. ^[1]; Tao, Lei  ^[2];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Tao, Lei"
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0003-2276-9649"
• Search orcid.org for ORCID "0000-0003-2276-9649"

Mu, Linqin ^[1]; Nordlund, Dennis ^[3]; Feng, Xu ^[1]; Zheng, Zhifeng  ^[4];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Zheng, Zhifeng"
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-8420-0581"
• Search orcid.org for ORCID "0000-0002-8420-0581"

Lin, Feng  ^[1]

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Lin, Feng"
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-3729-3148"
• Search orcid.org for ORCID "0000-0002-3729-3148"

---

+ Show Author Affiliations

1. Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ. (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA (United States). Dept. of Chemistry
2. Southwest Forestry Univ., Kunming (China). National Joint Engineering Research Center for Highly-Efficient Utilization Technology of Forest Biomass Resources and College of Materials Science and Engineering
3. SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States). Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL)
4. Southwest Forestry Univ., Kunming (China). National Joint Engineering Research Center for Highly-Efficient Utilization Technology of Forest Biomass Resources and College of Materials Science and Engineering; Xiamen Univ. (China). College of Energy and Fujian Engineering and Research Center of Clean and High-Valued Technologies for Biomass

Publication Date:

2018-07-17

Research Org.:

SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities Division; National Natural Science Foundation of China (NNSFC)

OSTI Identifier:

1476323

Grant/Contract Number:  

AC02-76SF00515; 31160147; 2014FA034; 2017YFD0601003

Resource Type:

Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:

Journal of Materials Chemistry. A

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Volume: 6; Journal Issue: 33; Journal ID: ISSN 2050-7488

Publisher:

Royal Society of Chemistry

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English

Subject:

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; 37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY; 25 ENERGY STORAGE