In Situ Transition Layer Design Based on Ti Additive Enabling High-Performance Liquid Metal Batteries

Liquid metal batteries (LMBs), with the merits of long lifespan and low cost, are deemed as one of the most promising energy storage technologies for large-scale energy storage applications due to the use of liquid metal electrodes and molten salt electrolytes. However, the consequent problem is that the poor wettability between graphite-based collectors and the liquid metal/alloy electrodes leads to large contact resistance, which limits the efficiency and stability of the battery. In this work, a transition layer in situ formed on a graphite-based positive electrode current collector by Ti additive is designed for the first time, which increases the wettability between the positive alloy and the current collector and improves the voltage efficiency of the Li|| Sb-Sn cell from 85.6 to 88.4%. These results provide new ideas for the design of high-efficiency LMBs.

Automated summary

Liquid metal batteries (LMBs) are considered as one of the most promising energy storage technologies for large-scale applications due to their long lifespan and low cost. However, the poor wettability between graphite-based collectors and liquid metal electrodes limits the efficiency and stability of the battery. In this study, a transition layer formed on the graphite-based positive electrode current collector by adding Ti improves the wettability and increases the voltage efficiency of the Li|| Sb-Sn cell from 85.6% to 88.4%. These findings provide new insights for the design of high-efficiency LMBs.