Coupling of 3D Porous Hosts for Li Metal Battery Anodes with Viscous Polymer Electrolytes

As the energy storage markets demand increased capacity of rechargeable batteries, Li metal anodes have regained major attention due to their high theoretical specific capacity. However, Li anodes tend to have dendritic growth and constant electrolyte consumption upon cycling, which lead to safety concerns, low Coulombic efficiency, and short cycle life of the battery. In this work, both conductive and non-conductive 3D porous hosts were coupled with a viscous (melt) polymer electrolyte. The cross-section of the hosts showed good contact between porous hosts and the melt polymer electrolyte before and after extensive cycling, indicating that the viscous electrolyte successfully refilled the space upon Li stripping. Upon deep Li deposition/stripping cycling (5 mAh cm-2), the non-conductive host with the viscous electrolyte successfully cycled, while conductive host allowed rapid short circuiting. Post-mortem cross-sectional imaging showed that the Li deposition was confined to the top layers of the host. COMSOL simulations indicated that current density was higher and more restricted to the top of the conductive host with the polymer electrolyte than the liquid electrolyte. This resulted in quicker short circuiting of the polymer electrolyte cell during deep cycling. Thus, the non-conductive 3D host is preferred for coupling with the melt polymer electrolyte.

Zinc Anode for Mild Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries: Challenges, Strategies, and Perspectives

The rapid advance of mild aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) is driving the development of the energy storage system market. But the thorny issues of Zn anodes, mainly including dendrite growth, hydrogen evolution, and corrosion, severely reduce the performance of ZIBs. To commercialize ZIBs, researchers must overcome formidable challenges. Research about mild aqueous ZIBs is still developing. Various technical and scientific obstacles to designing Zn anodes with high stripping efficiency and long cycling life have not been resolved. Moreover, the performance of Zn anodes is a complex scientific issue determined by various parameters, most of which are often ignored, failing to achieve the maximum performance of the cell. This review proposes a comprehensive overview of existing Zn anode issues and the corresponding strategies, frontiers, and development trends to deeply comprehend the essence and inner connection of degradation mechanism and performance. First, the formation mechanism of dendrite growth, hydrogen evolution, corrosion, and their influence on the anode are analyzed. Furthermore, various strategies for constructing stable Zn anodes are summarized and discussed in detail from multiple perspectives. These strategies are mainly divided into interface modification, structural anode, alloying anode, intercalation anode, liquid electrolyte, non-liquid electrolyte, separator design, and other strategies. Finally, research directions and prospects are put forward for Zn anodes. This contribution highlights the latest developments and provides new insights into the advanced Zn anode for future research.

Nanoscale Li, Na, and K Ion-Conducting Polyphosphazenes by Atomic Layer Deposition

Solid state batteries (SSBs), and corresponding solid-state electrolytes (SSEs), have been proposed to address both dimensional restrictions and safety concerns associated with liquid electrolyte batteries. Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is...

Liquid electrolyte development for low-temperature lithium-ion batteries

A review on liquid electrolyte design for LIBs operating under low-temperature (<0 °C) conditions. Covers various processes that determine performance below 0 °C and recent literature on electrolyte-based strategies to improve said performance.

Improvement of the EC Performance in LCP-MOF Electrode Materials by Succinic Anhydrate Addition to the Electrolyte

The optimization of the electrolyte composition for a canonical cathode such as LiCoPO4 olivine. The implemented succinic anhydride within a liquid electrolyte LiPF6 and dissolved in carbonate/diethyl considerably improves the discharge capacity of the electrode are shown. The introduction of succinic anhydride into the solid/electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer is responsible for the improved electrochemical performance of the electrode. We used LiCoPO4@C-ZrO2 as a cathode to prove the concept. The observed results could be applied for a wide range of cathodes. Moreover, the proposed additive to the electrolyte could help evaluate the performance of the materials without the side effects of the electrolyte.

Gel polymer electrolyte combined lignocellulose with sodium alginate in lithium-ion battery

The adoption of gel polymer electrolyte (GPE) is a solution to efficiently solve the serious security risk of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). GPE based on lignocellulose (LC) and sodium alginate (SA) was prepared. When the proportion of SA reaches up to 20 wt.%, the obtained composite membrane has a liquid electrolyte uptake of 337 wt.% and a porosity of 58%, and its mechanical strength is over four times than that of pure LC-based membrane. In addition, the corresponding GPE with 20 wt.% SA (GLCSA-20) presents high lithium-ion transference number of 0.76, distinguished ion conductivity of 2.70 × 10[Formula: see text] S cm[Formula: see text], excellent discharge specific capacity (124 mAh cm[Formula: see text] at 1 C when 200th cycle of Li∥GLCSA-20∥LiFePO[Formula: see text] and outstanding cyclic stability. These virtues support that the GLCSA-20 has great potential for applications in safe LIBs.