Suppressing lithium dendrite formation using electrolyte additives

ROJAS, MARÍA DEL CARMEN; OTERO, MANUEL; LUQUE, GUILLERMINA LETICIA; SUÁREZ RAMANZIN, MARÍA BELÉN; CALDERÓN, CECILIA ANDREA; OLIVA, FABIANA; LEIVA, EZEQUIEL P. M.; GARCÍA SORIANO, FRANCISCO JAVIER; BARRACO, DANIEL E.

Durban

Congreso; 70th Annual Meeting of the international Society of Electrochemistry; 2019

International Society of Electrochemistry

Currently, Lithium-ion batteries present the most promising solution for energy storage in many applications, from electronic devices to electrical vehicles and electrical network power storage. Battery systems based on Li-metal anode have gained more attention due to its unique characteristics such as low gravimetric density (0.59 g cm−3), high theoretical specific capacity (3860 mAh g−1) and low negative redox potential (−3.040 V vs. standard hydrogen electrode). However, high thermodynamic instability of organic solvents towards lithium causes low cycle efficiency and lithium dendrite formation during discharge/charge processes, hindering its practical application. The growth of lithium dendrites in continuous cycling may lead to internal short circuit and further incur fire or other safety problems, while the low cycling efficiency will result in short cycle life and final battery failure. In this sense, several approaches have been studied in order to solve the problems related to it. It is well known that SEI layer on lithium metal strongly affects Li deposit morphology and cycling performance. Additive strategy is widely explored to improve the performance of Li anode, and it is considered as a powerful weapon to facilitate the in-situ formation of SEI with high uniformity and stability and to regulate Li ion diffusion and plating behavior. In this work, we have studied the effect of SiO2 nanoparticles as additive in a electrolyte solution consisting of LiTFSi 1M-LiNO3 0.25M in DOL:DME.