Free-Standing Conversion-Type Ceramic Nanowire Interlayers towards Stable Lithium Metal Batteries

Today, the growing demand for electric vehicles and consumer electronics necessitates the development of batteries with higher energy efficiency and lower costs [1]. Utilizing lithium metal anodes allows lithium batteries to provide a substantially higher energy density (3860 mAh g^-1) compared to those built with conventional anodes. However, crucial issues associated with Li metal anodes remain unresolved. Particularly, a major challenge is the development of lithium dendrites, which have the potential to induce short circuits and present significant safety risks [2].

To mitigate this issue, we introduce a novel design featuring a self-supporting conversion nanowire membrane, serving as a transformative interlayer to modulate lithium deposition, facilitating the development of stable and secure lithium metal batteries. This conversion interlayer is capable of producing a LiF-rich interface in-situ to guide heterogeneous lithium nucleation, fuse deposited lithium and suppress lithium dendrite growth regardless of electrolyte. When this interlayer is incorporated, Li metal full cells coupling with both LiFePO₄ (LFP) and LiNi_0.8Co_0.1Mn_0.1O₂ (NMC 811) cathodes exhibit substantially reduced capacity deterioration compared to those with bare Cu. Our results demonstrate that using a conversion nanowire interlayer offers significant promise for creating safe and high-energy lithium metal batteries.

[1] K. Turcheniuk, D. Bondarev, G. G. Amatucci, G. Yushin, Materials Today 2021, 42, 57.
[2] J. Liu, Z. Bao, Y. Cui, E. J. Dufek, J. B. Goodenough, P. Khalifah, Q. Li, B. Y. Liaw, P. Liu, A. Manthiram, Y. S. Meng, V. R. Subramanian, M. F. Toney, V. V. Viswanathan, M. S. Whittingham, J. Xiao, W. Xu, J. Yang, X.-Q. Yang, J.-G. Zhang, Nature Energy 2019, 4, 180.