Hybrid electrolyte with robust garnet-ceramic electrolyte for lithium anode protection in lithium-oxygen batteries

Abstract

Rechargeable lithium-oxygen (Li-O2) batteries have received intensive research interest due to its ultrahigh energy density, while its cycle stability is still hindered by the high reactivity of the Li anode with oxygen and moisture. To alleviate the corrosion of the metallic lithium anodes for achieving a stable Li-O2 battery, and as a proof-of-concept experiment, a distinctive hybrid electrolyte system with an organic/ceramic/organic electrolyte (OCOE) architecture is designed. Importantly, the cycle number of Li-O2 batteries with OCOE is significantly improved compared with batteries with an organic electrolyte (OE). This might be attributed to the effective suppression of the lithium anode corrosion caused by the OE degradation and the crossover of oxygen from the cathode. We consider that our facile, low-cost, and highly effective lithium protection strategy presents a new avenue to address the daunting corrosion problem of lithium metal anodes in Li-O2 batteries. In addition, the proposed strategy can be easily extended to other metal-O2 battery systems, such as Na-O2 batteries.