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Published on: May 22, 2018
A bidirectional growth mechanism for a stable lithium anode by a platinum nanolayer sputtered on a polypropylene
Kaihua Wen1,2, Lili Liu3, Shimou Chen1
1Beijing Key Laboratory of Ionic Liquids Clean Process, CAS Key Laboratory of Green Process and Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing 100190 P. R. China chenshimou@ipe.ac.cn sjzhang@ipe.ac.cn.
Abstract:
The issue of uncontrollable Li dendrite growth, caused by irregular lithium deposition, restricts the wide applications of Li metal based high energy batteries. In this paper, a polypropylene separator with a sputtered platinum nanolayer has been developed to improve the stability of the Li metal anodes. It was found that cells using the modified separators resulted in a smooth Li surface and a stable "electrode-electrolyte" interface. On the one hand, platinum nanolayers can enhance the mechanical properties and micro-structures of commercial polypropylene separators. On the other hand, platinum nanolayers provide stable Li deposition during repeated charging/discharging by a bidirectional growth mechanism. After long-time cycling, the dendrites from opposite directions and dead Li are integrated into a flat and dense new-formed Li anode, decreasing the risk of low Coulombic efficiency and cycling instability that may end in cell failure. This design may provide new ideas in next-generation energy storage systems for advanced stable metallic battery technologies.
