IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v16y2025i1d10.1038_s41467-025-58818-y.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Manipulation of lithium dendrites based on electric field relaxation enabling safe and long-life lithium-ion batteries

Author

Listed:
  • Xuebing Han

    (Tsinghua University)

  • Shuoyuan Mao

    (Tsinghua University)

  • Yu Wang

    (Tsinghua University
    Tsinghua University)

  • Yao Lu

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Depeng Wang

    (Ltd.)

  • Yukun Sun

    (Ltd.)

  • Yuejiu Zheng

    (University of Shanghai for Science and Technology)

  • Xuning Feng

    (Tsinghua University)

  • Languang Lu

    (Tsinghua University)

  • Jianfeng Hua

    (Ltd.)

  • Minggao Ouyang

    (Tsinghua University)

Abstract

Lithium dendrites, with their high reactivity, pose a critical challenge to the safety and longevity of lithium-based batteries. Effective regulation strategies are crucial for mitigating battery degradation and enhancing reliability. Conventional approaches, such as relaxation following lithium plating or regulated discharging, often fail to simultaneously address the formation of solid electrolyte interface and isolated lithium. Here, we demonstrate that rational utilization of electric field relaxation following dendrite growth can reduce defective solid electrolyte interface and isolated lithium by balancing solid electrolyte interface growth and dendrite morphology smoothing near the relaxation time constant. Building upon the mechanism, we propose a short-term relaxation method to manipulate lithium plating, which achieves an enhancement of capacity retention from 80% up to 95% at 3 C-rate (20 min) fast-charging on commercial batteries. These findings highlight the importance of relaxation after dendrites formation for safe, long-life and fast-charging batteries, particularly where dendrite growth is the limiting factor.

Suggested Citation

  • Xuebing Han & Shuoyuan Mao & Yu Wang & Yao Lu & Depeng Wang & Yukun Sun & Yuejiu Zheng & Xuning Feng & Languang Lu & Jianfeng Hua & Minggao Ouyang, 2025. "Manipulation of lithium dendrites based on electric field relaxation enabling safe and long-life lithium-ion batteries," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-11, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-58818-y
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-58818-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-58818-y
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-025-58818-y?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. V. Reisecker & F. Flatscher & L. Porz & C. Fincher & J. Todt & I. Hanghofer & V. Hennige & M. Linares-Moreau & P. Falcaro & S. Ganschow & S. Wenner & Y.-M. Chiang & J. Keckes & J. Fleig & D. Rettenwan, 2023. "Effect of pulse-current-based protocols on the lithium dendrite formation and evolution in all-solid-state batteries," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.
    2. Jie Xiao & Qiuyan Li & Yujing Bi & Mei Cai & Bruce Dunn & Tobias Glossmann & Jun Liu & Tetsuya Osaka & Ryuta Sugiura & Bingbin Wu & Jihui Yang & Ji-Guang Zhang & M. Stanley Whittingham, 2020. "Understanding and applying coulombic efficiency in lithium metal batteries," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 5(8), pages 561-568, August.
    3. Yunwei Zhang & Qiaochu Tang & Yao Zhang & Jiabin Wang & Ulrich Stimming & Alpha A. Lee, 2020. "Identifying degradation patterns of lithium ion batteries from impedance spectroscopy using machine learning," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-6, December.
    4. Fang Liu & Rong Xu & Yecun Wu & David Thomas Boyle & Ankun Yang & Jinwei Xu & Yangying Zhu & Yusheng Ye & Zhiao Yu & Zewen Zhang & Xin Xiao & Wenxiao Huang & Hansen Wang & Hao Chen & Yi Cui, 2021. "Dynamic spatial progression of isolated lithium during battery operations," Nature, Nature, vol. 600(7890), pages 659-663, December.
    5. Xintong Yuan & Bo Liu & Matthew Mecklenburg & Yuzhang Li, 2023. "Ultrafast deposition of faceted lithium polyhedra by outpacing SEI formation," Nature, Nature, vol. 620(7972), pages 86-91, August.
    6. Gustavo M. Hobold & Jeffrey Lopez & Rui Guo & Nicolò Minafra & Abhik Banerjee & Y. Shirley Meng & Yang Shao-Horn & Betar M. Gallant, 2021. "Moving beyond 99.9% Coulombic efficiency for lithium anodes in liquid electrolytes," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 6(10), pages 951-960, October.
    7. Meinan He & Louis G. Hector & Fang Dai & Fan Xu & Suryanarayana Kolluri & Nathaniel Hardin & Mei Cai, 2024. "Industry needs for practical lithium-metal battery designs in electric vehicles," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 9(10), pages 1199-1205, October.
    8. Shuibin Tu & Bao Zhang & Yan Zhang & Zihe Chen & Xiancheng Wang & Renming Zhan & Yangtao Ou & Wenyu Wang & Xuerui Liu & Xiangrui Duan & Li Wang & Yongming Sun, 2023. "Fast-charging capability of graphite-based lithium-ion batteries enabled by Li3P-based crystalline solid–electrolyte interphase," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 8(12), pages 1365-1374, December.
    9. Yuqiang Zeng & Buyi Zhang & Yanbao Fu & Fengyu Shen & Qiye Zheng & Divya Chalise & Ruijiao Miao & Sumanjeet Kaur & Sean D. Lubner & Michael C. Tucker & Vincent Battaglia & Chris Dames & Ravi S. Prashe, 2023. "Extreme fast charging of commercial Li-ion batteries via combined thermal switching and self-heating approaches," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    10. David T. Boyle & William Huang & Hansen Wang & Yuzhang Li & Hao Chen & Zhiao Yu & Wenbo Zhang & Zhenan Bao & Yi Cui, 2021. "Corrosion of lithium metal anodes during calendar ageing and its microscopic origins," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 6(5), pages 487-494, May.
    11. Wenbo Zhang & Philaphon Sayavong & Xin Xiao & Solomon T. Oyakhire & Sanzeeda Baig Shuchi & Rafael A. Vilá & David T. Boyle & Sang Cheol Kim & Mun Sek Kim & Sarah E. Holmes & Yusheng Ye & Donglin Li & , 2024. "Recovery of isolated lithium through discharged state calendar ageing," Nature, Nature, vol. 626(7998), pages 306-312, February.
    12. Chengcheng Fang & Jinxing Li & Minghao Zhang & Yihui Zhang & Fan Yang & Jungwoo Z. Lee & Min-Han Lee & Judith Alvarado & Marshall A. Schroeder & Yangyuchen Yang & Bingyu Lu & Nicholas Williams & Migue, 2019. "Quantifying inactive lithium in lithium metal batteries," Nature, Nature, vol. 572(7770), pages 511-515, August.
    13. Chao-Yang Wang & Teng Liu & Xiao-Guang Yang & Shanhai Ge & Nathaniel V. Stanley & Eric S. Rountree & Yongjun Leng & Brian D. McCarthy, 2022. "Fast charging of energy-dense lithium-ion batteries," Nature, Nature, vol. 611(7936), pages 485-490, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pietro Iurilli & Luigi Luppi & Claudio Brivio, 2022. "Non-Invasive Detection of Lithium-Metal Battery Degradation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-14, September.
    2. Ziteng Liang & Yuxuan Xiang & Kangjun Wang & Jianping Zhu & Yanting Jin & Hongchun Wang & Bizhu Zheng & Zirong Chen & Mingming Tao & Xiangsi Liu & Yuqi Wu & Riqiang Fu & Chunsheng Wang & Martin Winter, 2023. "Understanding the failure process of sulfide-based all-solid-state lithium batteries via operando nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-15, December.
    3. Hyeokjin Kwon & Hongsin Kim & Jaemin Hwang & Wonsik Oh & Youngil Roh & Dongseok Shin & Hee-Tak Kim, 2024. "Borate–pyran lean electrolyte-based Li-metal batteries with minimal Li corrosion," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 9(1), pages 57-69, January.
    4. Kai Yang & Hongchang Cai & Suran Li & Yu Wang & Xue Zhang & Zhenxuan Wu & Yilin Lai & Minella Bezha & Klara Bezha & Naoto Nagaoka & Yuejiu Zheng & Xuning Feng, 2024. "Research on Quantitative Diagnosis of Dendrites Based on Titration Gas Chromatography Technology," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-19, May.
    5. 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.
    6. Yu Wang & Tairan Wang & Shuyu Bu & Jiaxiong Zhu & Yanbo Wang & Rong Zhang & Hu Hong & Wenjun Zhang & Jun Fan & Chunyi Zhi, 2023. "Sulfolane-containing aqueous electrolyte solutions for producing efficient ampere-hour-level zinc metal battery pouch cells," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, December.
    7. Qing Zhao & Yue Deng & Nyalaliska W. Utomo & Jingxu Zheng & Prayag Biswal & Jiefu Yin & Lynden A. Archer, 2021. "On the crystallography and reversibility of lithium electrodeposits at ultrahigh capacity," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-10, December.
    8. Zhou, Yuekuan, 2024. "Lifecycle battery carbon footprint analysis for battery sustainability with energy digitalization and artificial intelligence," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 371(C).
    9. Jin-Xia Lin & Peng Dai & Sheng-Nan Hu & Shiyuan Zhou & Gyeong-Su Park & Chen-Guang Shi & Jun-Fei Shen & Yu-Xiang Xie & Wei-Chen Zheng & Hui Chen & Shi-Shi Liu & Hua-Yu Huang & Ying Zhong & Jun-Tao Li , 2025. "Sulfur defect engineering controls Li2S crystal orientation towards dendrite-free lithium metal batteries," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-13, December.
    10. Ibraheem, Rasheed & Dechent, Philipp & dos Reis, Gonçalo, 2025. "Path signature-based life prognostics of Li-ion battery using pulse test data," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 378(PA).
    11. Li, Guanzheng & Li, Bin & Li, Chao & Wang, Shuai, 2023. "State-of-health rapid estimation for lithium-ion battery based on an interpretable stacking ensemble model with short-term voltage profiles," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(PE).
    12. Wang, Huan & Li, Yan-Fu & Zhang, Ying, 2023. "Bioinspired spiking spatiotemporal attention framework for lithium-ion batteries state-of-health estimation," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    13. Siraprapha Deebansok & Jie Deng & Etienne Calvez & Yachao Zhu & Olivier Crosnier & Thierry Brousse & Olivier Fontaine, 2024. "Capacitive tendency concept alongside supervised machine-learning toward classifying electrochemical behavior of battery and pseudocapacitor materials," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-9, December.
    14. Entwistle, Jake & Ge, Ruihuan & Pardikar, Kunal & Smith, Rachel & Cumming, Denis, 2022. "Carbon binder domain networks and electrical conductivity in lithium-ion battery electrodes: A critical review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    15. Shahjalal, Mohammad & Roy, Probir Kumar & Shams, Tamanna & Fly, Ashley & Chowdhury, Jahedul Islam & Ahmed, Md. Rishad & Liu, Kailong, 2022. "A review on second-life of Li-ion batteries: prospects, challenges, and issues," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 241(C).
    16. Ben Niu & Wenxuan Jiang & Bo Jiang & Mengqi Lv & Sa Wang & Wei Wang, 2022. "Determining the depth of surface charging layer of single Prussian blue nanoparticles with pseudocapacitive behaviors," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.
    17. Penelope K. Jones & Ulrich Stimming & Alpha A. Lee, 2022. "Impedance-based forecasting of lithium-ion battery performance amid uneven usage," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.
    18. Lin, Mingqiang & Yan, Chenhao & Wang, Wei & Dong, Guangzhong & Meng, Jinhao & Wu, Ji, 2023. "A data-driven approach for estimating state-of-health of lithium-ion batteries considering internal resistance," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).
    19. Matthew Burton & Sudarshan Narayanan & Ben Jagger & Lorenz F. Olbrich & Shobhan Dhir & Masafumi Shibata & Michael J. Lain & Robert Astbury & Nicholas Butcher & Mark Copley & Toshikazu Kotaka & Yuichi , 2025. "Techno-economic assessment of thin lithium metal anodes for solid-state batteries," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 10(1), pages 135-147, January.
    20. 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.

    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:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-58818-y. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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.