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Anion-derived solid electrolyte interphase realized in usual-concentration electrolyte for Li metal batteries

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Abstract

Constructing anion-derived solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) by recruiting anions into the solvation sheath of Li+ is extremely conducive to restrain the dendrite growth of Li metal anode. However, the presence of anions in the solvation sheath of Li+ is severely hindered by the solvents with strong coordinating ability in conventional electrolyte. Herein, we boost the content of anions in the primary solvation sheath of Li+ by employing a solvent with low donor number, 2-methyltetrahydrofuran, inducing an anion-derived SEI. As a result, the Li∥Cu cells show a high average Coulombic efficiency (> 99%) over 500 cycles and the Li∥LiFePO4 cells under a low negative/positive capacity ratio of 2:1 exhibit an impressive capacity retention of 90% after 100 cycles. This work provides insights on constructing stable anion-derived SEI and offers guidance in designing electrolytes for stable Li metal batteries.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (No. 2022YFB2402200), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 22121005, 22020102002, and 21835004), the Frontiers Science Center for New Organic Matter of Nankai University (No. 63181206), and the Haihe Laboratory of Sustainable Chemical Transformations. The calculations in this work were performed on TianHe-1(A), National Supercomputer Center in Tianjin.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Frontiers Science Center for New Organic Matter, Haihe Laboratory of Sustainable Chemical Transformations, Key Laboratory of Advanced Energy Materials Chemistry (Ministry of Education), College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China

    Zhimeng Hao, Geng Li, Yong Lu, Yichao Cai, Gaojing Yang & Jun Chen

  2. National Supercomputer Center in Tianjin, Tianjin, 300457, China

    Geng Li

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  1. Zhimeng Hao
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Correspondence to Jun Chen.

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Hao, Z., Li, G., Lu, Y. et al. Anion-derived solid electrolyte interphase realized in usual-concentration electrolyte for Li metal batteries. Nano Res. 16, 12647–12654 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-023-5937-y

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