An ion‐percolating electrolyte membrane for ultrahigh efficient and dendrite‐free lithium metal batteries

• Published in: InfoMat Vol. 5; no. 12
• Main Authors: Xu, Yu‐Ting, Dai, Sheng‐Jia, Wang, Xiao‐Feng, Wu, Xiong‐Wei, Guo, Yu‐Guo, Zeng, Xian‐Xiang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Melbourne John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.12.2023; Wiley
• Subjects: Catastrophic events; Contact angle; dendrite; Electrodes; Electrolytes; interface; ionic transference number; Lithium; Lithium batteries; lithium metal battery; Membranes; Percolation; solid electrolyte
• ISSN: 2567-3165; 2567-3165
• DOI: 10.1002/inf2.12498

The development of lithium (Li) metal batteries has been severely limited by the formation of lithium dendrites and the associated catastrophic failure and inferior Coulombic efficiency which caused by non‐uniform or insufficient Li+ supply across the electrode–electrolyte interface. Therefore, a rational strategy is to construct a robust electrolyte that can allow efficient and uniform Li+ transport to ensure sufficient Li+ supply and homogenize the Li plating/stripping. Herein, we report an ion‐percolating electrolyte membrane that acts as a stable Li+ reservoir to ensure a near‐single Li+ transference number (0.78) and homogenizes Li+ migration to eradicate dendrite growth, endowing Li//LFP cell with an ultrahigh average Coulombic efficiency (ca. 99.97%) after cycling for nearly half of a year and superior cycling stability when pairing with LiCoO2 with limited Li amount and LiNi0.8Mn0.1Co0.1O2. These estimable attributes demonstrate significant potential of utility value for the ion‐percolating electrolyte. An ion‐percolating electrolyte membrane with near‐single Li+ migration is fabricated with the affluent internal channels in attapulgite functional layer, which serves as a natural Li+ reservoir to homogenize Li+ transportation across electrolyte–electrode interface, and thus it enables Li metal batteries to operate stably for nearly half a year with ultrahigh CE and dendrite‐free plating/stripping, revealing vast opportunities for rechargeable metal batteries.