Dendrite‐Suppressed Lithium Plating from a Liquid Electrolyte via Wetting of Li3N |
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| Authors: | Kyusung Park John B Goodenough |
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| Affiliation: | Texas Materials Institute, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA |
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| Abstract: | Lithium metal is an ultimate anode material to provide the highest energy density for a given cathode by providing a higher capacity and cell voltage. However, lithium is not used as the anode in commercial lithium‐ion batteries because electrochemical dendrite formation and growth during charge can induce a cell short circuit that ignites the flammable liquid electrolyte. Plating of lithium through a bed of Li3N particles is shown to transform dendrite growth into a 3D lithium network formed by wetting the particle surfaces; plating through a Li3N particle is without dendrite nucleation. The Li3N particles create a higher overpotential during Li deposition than that with dendrite growth in galvanostatic charge/discharge tests. The characteristic overpotential increase is correlated with the morphological changes and a more isotropic growth behavior. The Li3N‐modified Li electrode shows a stable cycling performance at 0.5 and 1.0 mA cm?2 for more than 100 cycles. The origin of the bonding responsible for wetting of the Li3N particles by lithium and for plating through a Li3N particle is discussed. |
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| Keywords: | batteries dendrite Li3N lithium wetting |
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