New research shows that lithium metal batteries can be charged within an hour

2023-12-20

According to foreign media reports, in a new study, researchers have stated that fast charging lithium metal batteries can be charged within an hour at the fastest.

Thisattributed to lithium metal crystals, as they can form and grow rapidly and uniformly on a unique surface. The trick is to use crystal growth surfaces that lithium does not originally like. What interests battery researchers is that these seed crystals grow into a uniform and dense lithium metal layer, which can reduce dendrites. The dendrites formed on the negative electrode of the battery are a long-term obstacle to the development of fast charging, high-energy density lithium metal batteries.

This study was conducted by researchers from the University of California San Diego. This new method can complete the charging of lithium-metal batteries in about an hour, comparable to current lithium-ion batteries. A progress report on the development of fast charging lithium metal batteries was published on February 9, 2023 in the journal Nature Energy, in collaboration with imaging researchers from the University of California, San Diego and UC Irvine.

In order to grow lithium metal crystals, researchers replaced the copper surface widely present on the negative electrode of lithium metal batteries with a lithium hydrophobic nanocomposite material made of lithium fluoride and iron. Using this lithium hydrophobic surface for lithium deposition, lithium crystal seeds are formed and a dense lithium layer is grown, even at high charging rates. The result is to achieve a long cycle life lithium metal battery that can be quickly charged.

Professor Ping Liu, a researcher, stated: The discovery of this study lies in the surface of this special nanocomposite material. Researchers challenge the traditional notion of what kind of surface is needed to grow lithium crystals. The common view is that lithium grows better on the surface it likes, which is a lithium friendly surface. In this work, researchers have proven that thisnot always correct. The non lithium friendly bottom layer was used, but it can provide rich nucleation sites and fast surface lithium Exercise. These two factors promote crystal growth. Thisa great example of using scientific insight to solve technical problems

This new progress may promote the widespread application of energy intensive lithium metal batteries. This type of battery has a high charge density and enormous potential in electric vehicles and portable electronic products. However, in order to maintain battery performance and avoid safety issues, and to fully reduce the formation of lithium dendrites, the charging speed of lithium metal batteries is currently extremely slow.

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