Solid Electrolyte Interphase on Li/Na Anodes in Contact with Liquid Electrolytes

Abstract

Electrolyte consumption and continuous solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) growth are some of the crucial issues preventing the commercialization of battery systems depending on implementation of Li/Na metal anodes.1 In this work, recent study of SEI growth on Li metal in contact with glyme-based liquid/solid electrolyte under galvanostatic and OCV conditions by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), ex situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM) is presented.2,3 Under OCV conditions, reaction-controlled mechanism is substituted by diffusion-controlled mechanism at longer growth times. Upon galvanostatic cycling, both the SEI thickness and its room temperature ionic conductivity increase. Additionally, the transport properties of SEI are strongly influenced by the type of lithium salt and the concentration used. In the last part, a comparison of SEI growth in Li vs. Na cells in contact with glymes, carbonates, and water-containing electrolytes is given.4 Zhang, Zuo, Popovic, Lim, Yin, Maier, Guo, Towards better Li metal anodes: Challenges and strategies, Materials Today, 33, 56 (2020)Nojabaee, Popovic, Maier, Glyme-based liquid-solid electrolytes for lithium metal batteries, J. Mater. Chem. A, 7, 13331 (2019)Nojabaee, Küster, Starke, Popovic, Maier, Solid electrolyte interphase evolution on lithium metal in contact with glyme-based electrolytes, Small, 16(23), 2000756 (2020)Lim, Popovic, Maier, in preparation