Cryo-electron microscopy uncovers the interfacial failure mechanism of lithium steel anodes on the atomic scale, informing a F-rich solid-electrolyte interface design technique for highly-reversible solid-state Li steel batteries.
Industrial Li-ion batteries are presently composed of graphite anodes and nonaqueous liquid electrolytes. Their energy output is inadequate and flammable issues too excessive to satisfy the booming demand of vitality storage gadgets accompanying the inexperienced vitality transition. Consequently, there’s a robust motivation to develop new vitality storage methods past the liquid-based Li-ion chemistry1. To maneuver ahead, the solid-state Li steel battery, combining metallic lithium anodes and stable polymer electrolytes, stands out as probably the most promising candidates for sensible high-energy and high-safety batteries2. A key enabler is engineering a steady electrode–electrolyte interface. Nonetheless, lithium steel is very reactive, and has been difficult to grasp its interfacial chemistry. Interfacial aspect reactions result in poor Li plating and stripping reversibility3,4, severely limiting biking effectivity. Writing in Nature Nanotechnology, Lin et al. now reveal the origin of interfacial instability with an atomic scale decision by cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryoEM) and report an efficient answer to assemble a fluorinated interphase for much-enhanced electrochemical performances in solid-state Li steel batteries5.
