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Lithium deposition behavior in hard carbon hosts: Optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy study

Nano Research (2022)Cite this article

Abstract

Lithium (Li) metal is an ideal anode for the next generation high-energy-density batteries. However, it suffers from dendrite growth, side reactions, and infinite relative volume change. Effective strategies are using porous carbons or surface modification carbons to guide Li deposition into their pores. While the Li deposition behavior is still ambiguous. Here, we systematically determine their deposition behavior in various surface-modified carbons and in different electrolytes via optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy study. It is found that Li will not spontaneously deposit into the carbon pores, which is significantly dependent on the carbon surface, current density, areal capacity, and electrolyte. Thus, a “lithiophilic” modified commercial hard carbon with Ag is developed as a stable “host” and efficient surface protection derived from the localized high-concentration electrolyte exhibits a pretty low volume change (5.3%) during cycling at a current density of 2 mA·cm−2 and an areal capacity of 2 mAh·cm−2. This strategy addresses the volume change and dendrite problems by rationally designed host and electrolyte, providing a broad perspective for realizing Li-metal anode.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52072061), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China (No. ZYGX2019Z008), and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation Funded Project (No. 2019M661941).

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Author notes

  1. Ge Zhou, Yulin Zhao, and Chuan Hu contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials and Energy, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, China

    Ge Zhou, Yulin Zhao, Chuan Hu, Zhenzhen Ren & Liping Wang

  2. Tianmu Lake Institute of Advanced Energy Storage Technologies, Changzhou, 213300, China

    Ge Zhou, Chuan Hu & Hong Li

  3. Key Laboratory for Renewable Energy, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China

    Ge Zhou & Hong Li

Authors
  1. Ge Zhou
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  2. Yulin Zhao
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  3. Chuan Hu
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  4. Zhenzhen Ren
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  5. Hong Li
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  6. Liping Wang
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Correspondence to Liping Wang.

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Zhou, G., Zhao, Y., Hu, C. et al. Lithium deposition behavior in hard carbon hosts: Optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy study. Nano Res. (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-5256-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-5256-8

Keywords

  • lithium-metal anode
  • lithium deposition behavior
  • hard carbon host
  • lithiophilic sites
  • localized high-concentration electrolyte