Recent Advances in Liquid Metals for Rechargeable Batteries

Liquid metals (LMs) with their unique properties are considered for a range of applications such as energy storage, catalysis, electronics, and biomedical engineering. Recently, the introduction of LMs into rechargeable batteries has not only proven to improve overall performance but also overcome commonly known challenges like low energy density, material degradation, interface failure, and poor system integrity. Specifically, room-temperature LMs such as gallium (Ga), Ga-based alloys (GBAs), and metallic mercury (Hg) are promising candidates in rechargeable batteries due to their low viscosity, high electrical and thermal conductivity, excellent deformability, superior electrochemical properties, and self-healing capability. Herein, a review of recent advances in LMs for rechargeable batteries, starting with a brief introduction to LMs fundamentals and their properties is presented. Then, an extensive literature review is carried out to summarize the LMs' advances in addressing existing challenges of lithium-ion, lithium-metal, lithium-sulfur, and other rechargeable batteries. The current state of the art and future perspective are also put forward. It is believed that highlighting potential developments pertaining to LMs can fascinate researchers in exploring them for future rechargeable batteries. This review article presents the role of liquid metal in rechargeable batteries, beginning with introduction and focusing on battery-specific liquid metal properties. The recent advancements of lithium batteries featuring liquid metals are categorized into three subtopics followed by recent advances in other rechargeable batteries. This review concludes by providing future research directions. image

Automated summary

Liquid metals are being increasingly studied and applied in various fields such as energy storage, catalysis, electronics, and biomedical engineering. In rechargeable batteries, the introduction of liquid metals has shown great potential in improving performance and addressing common challenges. This review article provides an overview of recent advances in using liquid metals for rechargeable batteries, highlighting their unique properties and potential for future development.