Nano silica aerogel-induced formation of an organic/alloy biphasic interfacial layer enables construction of stable high-energy lithium metal batteries
Chengwei Ma, Xinyu Zhang, Chengcai Liu, Yuanxing Zhang, Yuanshen Wang, Ling Liu, Zhikun Zhao, Borong Wu, Daobin Mu
Abstract
Lithium metal batteries represent promising candidates for high-energy-density batteries; however, many challenges must still be overcome, e.g., interface instability and dendrite growth. In this work, nano silica aerogel was employed to generate a hybrid film with high lithium ion conductivity (0.6 mS cm−1 at room temperature) via an in situ crosslinking reaction. TOF-SIMS profile analysis has revealed conversion mechanism of hybrid film to Li–Si alloy/LiF biphasic interface layer, suggesting that the Li–Si alloy and LiF-rich interface layer promoted rapid Li+ transport and shielded the Li anodes from corrosive reactions with electrolyte-derived products. When coupled with nickel-cobalt-manganese-based cathodes, the batteries achieve outstanding capacity retention over 1000 cycles at 1C. Additionally the developed film coated on Li enabled high coulombic efficiency (99.5%) after long-term cycling when coupled with S cathodes. Overall, the results presented herein confirm an effective strategy for the development of high-energy batteries.