Soft solid electrolyte material can effectively inhibit dendritic growth on the anode of lithium battery

Foreign media reported that scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the United States have developed a new type of electrolyte, which is expected to greatly increase the range of electric vehicles. By replacing the graphite material in the anode of a lithium battery with pure lithium metal, it is expected to achieve new breakthroughs in energy density and charging speed. In addition, the new electrolyte made of soft and solid materials can effectively inhibit the growth of dendrites that cause serious damage to battery performance.

Because of its excellent energy density, lithium metal has high hopes in the energy industry. Through continuous improvement, pure lithium metal electrodes are expected to increase the battery capacity to 10 times the current capacity and greatly reduce the time required for charging.

However, the biggest obstacle in front of scientists is the dendrites that can seriously damage the battery performance. When the battery is charging and discharging, this annoying structure will be formed on the graphite anode, which will eventually lead to failure of the lithium battery and even fire.

The good news is that the team of scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Carnegie Mellon University has come up with new answers on the new soft solid electrolyte.

It is reported that the electrolyte aims to promote the movement of ions back and forth between the battery poles. However, for lithium metal batteries, the research team chose soft and porous polymer materials and filled the micropores with nano-ceramic particles.

The details of this research have been recently published in the journal "Nature Materials".

The original title is "Universal chemomechanical design rules for solid-ion conductors to prevent dendrite formation in lithium metal batteries".