Cesium Lead Chloride as an Artificial Solid Electrolyte Interphase for Enhanced Anode Protection in Lithium Metal...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Energy Storage

Background:

• Lithium metal anodes offer high energy density but suffer from instability with liquid electrolytes, leading to low coulombic efficiency.
• This instability hinders the practical application of high-performance lithium batteries.
• Developing stable interfaces for lithium metal anodes is crucial for next-generation energy storage.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a simple, low-cost method for creating a stable artificial solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) on lithium metal anodes.
• To enhance the interfacial stability between lithium metal and liquid electrolytes.
• To improve the cycling performance and energy density of lithium batteries.

Main Methods:

• A drop-casting method was used to apply a cesium lead chloride (CsPbCl3) coating onto the lithium metal surface.
• Fabrication of symmetrical Li||Li cells and Li||LiFePO4 (LFP) batteries utilizing the coated lithium anode.
• Electrochemical testing, including cycling stability and capacity retention measurements.

Main Results:

• The CsPbCl3 coating effectively stabilized the lithium metal anode-liquid electrolyte interface.
• Symmetrical Li||Li cells demonstrated excellent cycling stability for 600 hours at 1 mA/cm².
• Li||LFP batteries with the coated anode retained 99.46% capacity after 250 cycles at 1C, outperforming uncoated anodes.

Conclusions:

• The CsPbCl3 artificial SEI is a promising strategy for stabilizing lithium metal anodes.
• This approach effectively mitigates common lithium battery failure mechanisms.
• The developed coating method paves the way for high-energy-density rechargeable lithium metal batteries.