Integrated, Flexible Lithium Metal Battery with Improved Mechanical and Electrochemical Cycling Stability

Abstract

The success of beyond lithium-ion battery (LIB) technologies, i.e., Li oxygen and Li–S cells, depends in large part on the use of metallic anode materials. Metallic lithium, however, tends to grow parasitic dendrites, which would penetrate the separator to cause safety concerns. Moreover, the dendrites are highly reactive to carbonate electrolytes and invariably render a reduced Coulombic efficiency. Here, we propose our design of a dendrite blocking layer with size-tunable Ag nanoparticles (NPs) decorated on the mesoporous SiO2 nanospheres. The synergistic coupling of these complementary components enables the effective regulation of the lithium nucleation behavior via a protected Li–Ag alloying process. The Li plating/stripping process of a symmetric Ag NPs@SiO2-coated Li–metal cell exhibits a reduced voltage hysteresis, facile lithium nucleation process, and enhanced Coulombic efficiencies at various current densities. When the Ag NPs@SiO2-coated copper foil anode was integrated with lithium manganese ...