Dual-Function Alloying Nitrate Additives Stabilize Fast-Charging Lithium Metal Batteries

• Published in: ACS applied materials & interfaces 2024-07, Vol.16 (30), p.39341-39348
• Main Authors: Paul-Orecchio, Austin G., Stockton, Lucas, Barichello, Neel, Petersen, Andrew, Dolocan, Andrei, Wang, Yixian, Mitlin, David, Mullins, C. Buddie
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: electrochemistry; Energy, Environmental, and Catalysis Applications; iron phosphates; lithium; lithium batteries; nitrates
• ISSN: 1944-8244; 1944-8252; 1944-8252
• DOI: 10.1021/acsami.4c06385

Lithium metal is regarded as the “holy grail” of lithium-ion battery anodes due to its exceptionally high theoretical capacity (3800 mAh g–1) and lowest possible electrochemical potential (−3.04 V vs Li/Li+); however, lithium suffers from the dendritic formation that leads to parasitic reactions and cell failure. In this work, we stabilize fast-charging lithium metal plating/stripping with dual-function alloying M-nitrate additives (M: Ag, Bi, Ga, In, and Zn). First, lithium metal reduces M, forming lithiophilic alloys for dense Li nucleation. Additionally, nitrates form ionically conductive and mechanically stable Li3N and LiN x O y , enhancing Li-ion diffusion through the passivation layer. Notably, Zn-protected cells demonstrate electrochemically stable Li||Li cycling for 750+ cycles (2.0 mA cm–2) and 140 cycles (10.0 mA cm–2). Moreover, Zn-protected Li||Lithium Iron Phosphate full-cells achieve 134 mAh g–1 (89.2% capacity retention) after 400 cycles (C/2). This work investigates a promising solution to stabilize lithium metal plating/stripping for fast-charging lithium metal batteries.