IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v10y2019i1d10.1038_s41467-019-12938-4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Tuning wettability of molten lithium via a chemical strategy for lithium metal anodes

Author

Listed:
  • Shu-Hua Wang

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS))

  • Junpei Yue

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS))

  • Wei Dong

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Tong-Tong Zuo

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Jin-Yi Li

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Xiaolong Liu

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS))

  • Xu-Dong Zhang

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Lin Liu

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Ji-Lei Shi

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Ya-Xia Yin

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Yu-Guo Guo

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Abstract

Metallic lithium affords the highest theoretical capacity and lowest electrochemical potential and is viewed as a leading contender as an anode for high-energy-density rechargeable batteries. However, the poor wettability of molten lithium does not allow it to spread across the surface of lithiophobic substrates, hindering the production and application of this anode. Here we report a general chemical strategy to overcome this dilemma by reacting molten lithium with functional organic coatings or elemental additives. The Gibbs formation energy and newly formed chemical bonds are found to be the governing factor for the wetting behavior. As a result of the improved wettability, a series of ultrathin lithium of 10–20 μm thick is obtained together with impressive electrochemical performance in lithium metal batteries. These findings provide an overall guide for tuning the wettability of molten lithium and offer an affordable strategy for the large-scale production of ultrathin lithium, and could be further extended to other alkali metals, such as sodium and potassium.

Suggested Citation

  • Shu-Hua Wang & Junpei Yue & Wei Dong & Tong-Tong Zuo & Jin-Yi Li & Xiaolong Liu & Xu-Dong Zhang & Lin Liu & Ji-Lei Shi & Ya-Xia Yin & Yu-Guo Guo, 2019. "Tuning wettability of molten lithium via a chemical strategy for lithium metal anodes," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 10(1), pages 1-8, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:10:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-019-12938-4
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-12938-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-12938-4
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-019-12938-4?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jiaqi Cao & Yuansheng Shi & Aosong Gao & Guangyuan Du & Muhtar Dilxat & Yongfei Zhang & Mohang Cai & Guoyu Qian & Xueyi Lu & Fangyan Xie & Yang Sun & Xia Lu, 2024. "Hierarchical Li electrochemistry using alloy-type anode for high-energy-density Li metal batteries," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.
    2. Chengbin Jin & Yiyu Huang & Lanhang Li & Guoying Wei & Hongyan Li & Qiyao Shang & Zhijin Ju & Gongxun Lu & Jiale Zheng & Ouwei Sheng & Xinyong Tao, 2023. "A corrosion inhibiting layer to tackle the irreversible lithium loss in lithium metal batteries," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:10:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-019-12938-4. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.