Polyoxometalate Ionic Sponge Enabled Dendrite-Free and Highly Stable Lithium Metal Anode

Yuan Zhong; Yaqing Su; Peng Huang; Qiu Jiang; Yue Lin; Haiyang Wu; Emiel J M Hensen; Amr M Abdelkader; Kai Xi; Chao Lai; Shulei Chou

doi:10.1002/smtd.202101613

Polyoxometalate Ionic Sponge Enabled Dendrite-Free and Highly Stable Lithium Metal Anode

Small Methods. 2022 Mar;6(3):e2101613. doi: 10.1002/smtd.202101613. Epub 2022 Feb 12.

Authors

Yuan Zhong¹, Yaqing Su^{2

3}, Peng Huang¹, Qiu Jiang⁴, Yue Lin⁵, Haiyang Wu¹, Emiel J M Hensen³, Amr M Abdelkader⁶, Kai Xi⁴, Chao Lai¹, Shulei Chou⁷

Affiliations

¹ School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, 221116, China.
² School of Chemistry, Xi'an Key Laboratory of Sustainable Energy Materials Chemistry, State Key Laboratory of Electrical Insulation and Power Equipment, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, China.
³ Laboratory of Inorganic Materials and Catalysis, Schuit Institute of Catalysis, Eindhoven University of Technology, MB Eindhoven, 5600, The Netherlands.
⁴ Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB3 0FS, UK.
⁵ Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB3 0HE, UK.
⁶ Faculty of Science and Technology, Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus, Fern Barrow, Poole, BH12 5BB, UK.
⁷ Institute for Carbon Neutralization, College of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, 325035, P. R. China.

PMID: 35152565
DOI: 10.1002/smtd.202101613

Abstract

Metallic lithium batteries are holding great promises for revolutionizing the current energy storage technologies. However, the formation of dendrite-like morphology of lithium deposition caused by uneven distribution of Li⁺ might cause severe safety concerns of batteries. In this study, a polyoxometalate (POM) cluster, H₅ PMo₁₀ V₂ O₄₀ (PMo₁₀ V₂ ), is added to the conventional electrolyte that can construct a lithium-rich layer and inhibit the growth of Li dendrites effectively. The Li-rich layer can fill any lack of lithium ions on the surface of the metal anode, making the electric field strength consistent across the anode surface, thereby inhibiting the formation of lithium dendrites. Consequently, a significantly prolonged cyclic lifespan is obtained for both Li/Li symmetric cells and Li/LiCoO₂ (Li/LCO) full cells. The cells with LCO positive maintains a high reversible specific capacity of 108.5 mAh g^-1 after 300 cycles when electrolyte with PMo₁₀ V₂ additive is used, compared to 31.5 mAh g^-1 for the untreated electrolyte. The findings indicate that POMs endowed as "ionic sponge" can be widely deployed in lithium metal batteries.

Keywords: electrolyte additives; ionic sponge; lithium metal anodes; polyoxometalates.

Abstract

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