Dynamics of Lithium Dendrite Growth and Inhibition: Pulse Charging Experiments and Monte Carlo Calculations

Short-circuiting via dendrites compromises the reliability of Limetal batteries. Dendrites ensue from instabilities inherent to electrodeposition that should be amenable to dynamic control. Here, we report that by charging a scaled coin-cell prototype with 1 ms pulses followed by 3 ms rest periods the average dendrite length is shortened similar to 2.5 times relative to those grown under continuous charging. Monte Carlo simulations dealing with Li+ diffusion and electromigration reveal that experiments involving 20 ms pulses were ineffective because Li+ migration in the strong electric fields converging to dendrite tips generates extended depleted layers that cannot be replenished by diffusion during rest periods. Because the application of pulses much shorter than the characteristic time tau(c) similar to O(similar to 1 ms) for polarizing electric double layers in our system would approach DC charging, we suggest that dendrite propagation can be inhibited (albeit not suppressed) by pulse charging within appropriate frequency ranges.