Utilizing in situ alloying reaction to achieve the self-healing, high energy density and cost-effective Li∥Sb liquid metal battery

As expected, a desired electrochemical energy storage system can simultaneously combine the low-cost raw materials with ultra-high energy density and no performance degradation characteristics. Here, we use liquid lithium as the anode, solid antimony as the cathode, molten LiF-LiCl-LiBr (or molten LiF-LiCl) as the electrolyte and test the battery at 550 degrees C. It can provide the energy density as high as 421.6 Wh kg(-1), while the energy storage cost is only 42.4 $ kWh(-1). More importantly, due to the self-healing characteristic of the pure antimony electrode, no capacity fading is observed during 470 cycles. Therefore, with all the merits, the Li parallel to Sb liquid metal battery has become a competitive choice in the field of grid-level energy storage.

Automated summary

The study explores a liquid metal battery using liquid lithium and solid antimony as main materials, providing high energy density and low cost energy storage at high temperatures. With the self-healing characteristic of the pure antimony electrode, no capacity fading is observed during cycles.