An artificial interfacial layer with biomimetic ionic channels towards highly stable Li metal anodes

Yiju Li; Tianshuai Wang; Junjie Chen; Xudong Peng; Minghui Chen; Bin Liu; Yongbiao Mu; Lin Zeng; Tianshou Zhao

doi:10.1016/j.scib.2023.06.008

An artificial interfacial layer with biomimetic ionic channels towards highly stable Li metal anodes

Sci Bull (Beijing). 2023 Jul 15;68(13):1379-1388. doi: 10.1016/j.scib.2023.06.008. Epub 2023 Jun 10.

Authors

Yiju Li¹, Tianshuai Wang², Junjie Chen³, Xudong Peng³, Minghui Chen³, Bin Liu³, Yongbiao Mu¹, Lin Zeng¹, Tianshou Zhao⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China.
² School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710129, China.
³ Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China.
⁴ Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China. Electronic address: zhaots@sustech.edu.cn.

PMID: 37336686
DOI: 10.1016/j.scib.2023.06.008

Abstract

Lithium (Li) metal with low electrochemical potential and high theoretical capacity is a promising anode material for next-generation batteries. However, the low reversibility and safety problems caused by the notorious dendrite growth significantly impede the development of high-energy-density lithium metal batteries (LMBs). Here, to enable a dendrite-free and highly reversible Li metal anode (LMA), we develop a cytomembrane-inspired artificial layer (CAL) with biomimetic ionic channels using a scalable spread coating method. The negatively charged CAL with uniform intraparticle and interparticle ionic channels facilitates the Li-ion transport and redistributes the Li-ion flux, contributing to stable and homogeneous Li stripping and plating. Furthermore, a robust underneath transition layer with abundant lithiophilic inorganic components is in-situ formed through the transformation of CAL during cycling, which promotes Li-ion diffusion and suppresses the continuous side reactions with the electrolyte. Additionally, the resulting cytomembrane-inspired artificial Janus layer (CAJL) displays an ultrahigh Young's modulus (≥10.7 GPa) to inhibit the dendrite growth. Consequently, the CAJL-protected LMA (Li@CAJL) is stably cycled with a high areal capacity of 10 mAh cm^-2 at a high current density of 10 mA cm^-2. More importantly, the effective CAJL modification realizes the stable operation of a practical 429.2 Wh kg^-1 lithium-sulfur (Li-S) pouch cell using a low electrolyte/sulfur (E/S) ratio of 3 μL mg^-1. The facile yet effective protection strategy of LMAs can promote the practical application of LMBs.

Keywords: Artificial interfacial layer; Janus structure; Lithium metal anode; Lithium metal batteries; Lithium-sulfur batteries.