Generation of highly porous Li‒Mg and Li‒Zn alloys from kinetically controlled lithiation

Abstract

Abstract Li‒Mg and Li‒Zn alloy electrodes are prepared by the kinetically controlled vapour deposition (KCVD) of Li‒Mg and Li‒Zn alloys on a temperature-controlled substrate. The mode of preparation greatly influences the microstructure, surface morphology and electrochemical properties of these Li‒Mg and Li‒Zn alloys. The KCVD technique, as applied to the generation of Li-Mg alloys, establishes the composition of each prepared alloy by independently varying the temperature of the molten lithium, the temperature of a solid magnesium surface with which the lithium interacts, and the temperature of the substrate on which a resulting intimately mixed Li-Mg mixture is deposited. Here, the required temperature for lithium induced magnesium vaporization is more than 200°C below the magnesium melting point. The effect of variable temperature control on the microstructure, morphology and electrochemical properties of the vapour-deposited alloys has been studied and the diffusion coefficients for lithium in the Li...