Nanoscale metal oxide-based composite membranes with fast ion channel for Li metal protection

It is widely considered that lithium metal is the most ideal anode for the next-generation rechargeable batteries with high energy and power density. The growth of lithium dendrite and low coulombic efficiency, however, result in a sluggish pace for the real application of lithium metal anode. Here, the lithiophilic coating, like the metal oxide-based composite membrane, can be readily reacted with lithium ions to form multi-phase interface, leading to a uniform fast pathway for lithium ion transport. Through the metal oxide-based composite membrane, the Li dendrite can be suppressed effectively and the excellent cycling stability of the Li anode can be achieved. The life of Li-Li symmetric cells can be improved significantly from less than 240 h to more than 3200 h (0.5 mA cm(-2), 1 mAh cm(-2)), and the Li-Cu cells can maintain a coulombic efficiency of 98.7% after 250 cycles. The composite membrane can also improve the electrochemical performance of the Li/NCM cells. Finally, the mechanism of dendrite suppression by the composite membrane is also discussed in detail.

Automated summary

The metal oxide-based composite membrane can significantly improve the electrochemical performance of lithium metal anode, effectively suppress the growth of lithium dendrites, and achieve excellent cycling stability.