MSGID: 1:317/3 63e5c872   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Progress toward fast-charging lithium-metal batteries    
    By growing uniform lithium crystals on a surprising surface, engineers   
   open a new door to fast-charging lithium-metal batteries    
      
     Date:   
         February 9, 2023   
     Source:   
         University of California - San Diego   
     Summary:   
         Engineers report progress toward lithium-metal batteries that   
         charge fast -- as fast as an hour. This fast charging is thanks to   
         lithium metal crystals that can be seeded and grown -- quickly and   
         uniformly -- on a surprising surface. The trick is to use a crystal   
         growing surface that lithium officially doesn't 'like.' From these   
         seed crystals grow dense layers of uniform lithium metal. Uniform   
         layers of lithium metal are of great interest to battery researchers   
         because they lack battery- performance-degrading spikes called   
         dendrites.   
      
      
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   FULL STORY   
   ==========================================================================   
   In a new Nature Energy paper, engineers report progress toward   
   lithium-metal batteries that charge fast -- as fast as an hour. This fast   
   charging is thanks to lithium metal crystals that can be seeded and grown   
   -- quickly and uniformly -- on a surprising surface. The trick is to use a   
   crystal growing surface that lithium officially doesn't "like." From these   
   seed crystals grow dense layers of uniform lithium metal. Uniform layers   
   of lithium metal are of great interest to battery researchers because   
   they lack battery-performance-degrading spikes called dendrites. The   
   formation of these dendrites in battery anodes is a longstanding roadblock   
   to fast-charging ultra-energy-dense lithium-metal batteries.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   This new approach, led by University of California San Diego engineers,   
   enables charging of lithium-metal batteries in about an hour, a speed   
   that is competitive against today's lithium-ion batteries. The UC San   
   Diego engineers, in collaboration with UC Irvine imaging researchers,   
   published this advance aimed at developing fast-charging lithium-metal   
   batteries on Feb. 9, 2023 in Nature Energy.   
      
   To grow lithium metal crystals, the researchers replaced the ubiquitous   
   copper surfaces on the negative side (the anode) of lithium-metal   
   batteries with a lithiophobic nanocomposite surface made of lithium   
   fluoride (LiF) and iron (Fe). Using this lithiophobic surface for   
   lithium deposition, lithium crystal seeds formed, and from these seeds   
   grew dense lithium layers -- even at high charging rates. The result   
   was long-cycle-life lithium-metal batteries that can be charged quickly.   
      
   "The special nanocomposite surface is the discovery," said UC San   
   Diego nanoengineering professor Ping Liu, the senior author on the new   
   paper. "We challenged the traditional notion of what kind of surface is   
   needed to grow lithium crystals. The prevailing wisdom is that lithium   
   grows better on surfaces that it likes, surfaces that are lithiophilic. In   
   this work, we show that is not always true. The substrate we use does   
   not like lithium. However, it provides abundant nucleation sites along   
   with fast surface lithium movement.   
      
   These two factors lead to the growth of these beautiful crystals. This   
   is a nice example of a scientific insight solving a technical problem."   
   The new advance led by UC San Diego nanoengineers could eliminate a   
   significant roadblock that is holding back widespread use of energy-dense   
   lithium-metal batteries for applications like electric vehicles (EVs)   
   and portable electronics. While lithium-metal batteries hold great   
   potential for EVs and portable electronics because of their high charge   
   density, today's lithium- metal batteries must be charged extremely   
   slowly in order to maintain battery performance and avoid safety   
   problems. The slow charging is necessary to minimize the formation of   
   battery-performance-wrecking lithium dendrites that form as lithium   
   ions join with electrons to form lithium crystals on the anode side of   
   the battery. Lithium crystals build up as the battery charges, and the   
   lithium crystals dissolve as the battery discharges.   
      
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   ==========================================================================   
   Story Source: Materials provided by   
   University_of_California_-_San_Diego. Original written by Daniel   
   Kane. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Journal Reference:   
      1. Zhaohui Wu, Chunyang Wang, Zeyu Hui, Haodong Liu, Shen Wang,   
      Sicen Yu,   
         Xing Xing, John Holoubek, Qiushi Miao, Huolin L. Xin & Ping   
         Liu. Growing single-crystalline seeds on lithiophobic substrates   
         to enable fast- charging lithium-metal batteries. Nature Energy,   
         2023 DOI: 10.1038/ s41560-023-01202-1   
   ==========================================================================   
      
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/02/230209114730.htm   
      
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