High-Rate Cycling of Lithium-Metal Batteries Enabled by Dual-Salt Electrolyte-Assisted Micropatterned Interfaces

Byeolhee Yoon; Jinkyu Park; Jinhong Lee; Seokwoo Kim; Xiaodi Ren; Yong Min Lee; Hee-Tak Kim; Hongkyung Lee; Myung-Hyun Ryou

doi:10.1021/acsami.9b05492

High-Rate Cycling of Lithium-Metal Batteries Enabled by Dual-Salt Electrolyte-Assisted Micropatterned Interfaces

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2019 Sep 4;11(35):31777-31785. doi: 10.1021/acsami.9b05492. Epub 2019 Aug 22.

Authors

Byeolhee Yoon¹, Jinkyu Park¹, Jinhong Lee², Seokwoo Kim¹, Xiaodi Ren³, Yong Min Lee⁴, Hee-Tak Kim², Hongkyung Lee³, Myung-Hyun Ryou¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering , Hanbat National University , 125 Dongseo-daero , Yuseong-gu, Daejeon , 34158 , Republic of Korea.
² Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering , Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) , 291 Daehak-ro , Yuseong-gu, Daejeon , 34141 , South Korea.
³ Energy and Environment Directorate , Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) , 902 Battelle Boulevard , Richland , Washington 99354 , United States.
⁴ Department of Energy Systems Engineering , Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) , 333 Techno Jungang-Daero , Daegu 42988 , Republic of Korea.

PMID: 31403273
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.9b05492

Abstract

We present a synergistic strategy to boost the cycling performance of Li-metal batteries. The strategy is based on the combined use of a micropattern (MP) on the surface of the Li-metal electrode and an advanced dual-salt electrolyte (DSE) system to more efficiently control undesired Li-metal deposition at higher current density (∼3 mA cm^-2). The MP-Li electrode induces a spatially uniform current distribution to achieve dendrite-free Li-metal deposition beneath the surface layer formed by the DSE. The MP-Li/DSE combination exhibited excellent synergistic rate capability improvements that were neither observed with the MP-Li system nor for the bare Li/DSE system. The combination also resulted in the Li||LiMn₂O₄ battery attaining over 1 000 cycles, which is twice as long at the same capacity retention (80%) compared with the control cells (MP-Li without DSE). We further demonstrated extremely fast charging at a rate of 15 C (19.5 mA cm^-2).

Keywords: dual-salt electrolyte; fast-charging; lithium dendrite; lithium metal battery; micropatterning.