Stable metal battery anodes enabled by polyethylenimine sponge hosts by way of electrokinetic effects

Guoxing Li, Zhe Liu, Qingquan Huang, Yue Gao, Michael Regula, Daiwei Wang, Long-Qing Chen and Donghai Wang ()
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Guoxing Li: The Pennsylvania State University
Zhe Liu: The Pennsylvania State University
Qingquan Huang: The Pennsylvania State University
Yue Gao: The Pennsylvania State University
Michael Regula: The Pennsylvania State University
Daiwei Wang: The Pennsylvania State University
Long-Qing Chen: The Pennsylvania State University
Donghai Wang: The Pennsylvania State University

Nature Energy, 2018, vol. 3, issue 12, 1076-1083

Abstract: Abstract The cycle life and energy density of rechargeable metal batteries are largely limited by the dendritic growth of their metal anodes (lithium, sodium or zinc). Here we develop a three-dimensional cross-linked polyethylenimine lithium-ion-affinity sponge as the lithium metal anode host to mitigate the problem. We show that electrokinetic surface conduction and electro-osmosis within the high-zeta-potential sponge change the concentration and current density profiles, which enables dendrite-free plating/stripping of lithium with a high Coulombic efficiency at high deposition capacities and current densities, even at low temperatures. The use of a lithium-hosting sponge leads to a significantly improved cycling stability of lithium metal batteries with a limited amount of lithium (for example, the areal lithium ratio of negative to positive electrodes is 0.6) at a commercial-level areal capacity. We also observed dendrite-free morphology in sodium and zinc anodes, which indicates a broader promise of this approach.

Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1038/s41560-018-0276-z

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