Bioinspired Separator with Ion-Selective Nanochannels for Lithium Metal Batteries.

The free transport of anions through commercial polyolefin separators used in lithium metal batteries (LMBs) gives rise to concentration polarization and rapid growth of lithium dendrites, leading to poor performance and short circuits. Here, a new poly(ethylene-co-acrylic acid) (EAA) separator with functional active sites (i.e., carboxyl groups) distributing along the pore surface was fabricated, forming bioinspired ion-conducting nanochannels within the separator. As the carboxyl groups effectively desolvated Li+ and immobilized anion, the as-prepared EAA separator selectively accelerated the transport of Li+ with transference number of Li+ (tLi+) up to 0.67, which was further confirmed by molecular dynamics simulations. The battery with the EAA separator can be stably cycled over 500 h at 5 mA cm-2. The LMBs with the EAA separator have exceptional electrochemical performance of 107 mAh g-1 at 5 C and a capacity retention of 69% after 200 cycles. This work provides new commercializable separators toward dendrite-free LMBs.

[1]  Yingying Lu,et al.  Highly Reversible Zn Metal Anodes Realized by Synergistically Enhancing Ion Migration Kinetics and Regulating Surface Energy , 2022, Advanced Functional Materials.

[2]  V. Pol,et al.  Critical-Point-Dried, Porous, and Safer Aramid Nanofiber Separator for High-Performance Durable Lithium-Ion Batteries. , 2022, ACS applied materials & interfaces.

[3]  Chaohe Xu,et al.  Functionalized 12 µm Polyethylene Separator to Realize Dendrite‐Free Lithium Deposition toward Highly Stable Lithium‐Metal Batteries , 2022, Advanced science.

[4]  Jingbing Liu,et al.  Anion Immobilization Enabled by Cation‐Selective Separators for Dendrite‐Free Lithium Metal Batteries , 2022, Advanced Functional Materials.

[5]  X. Tao,et al.  Self-assembled monolayers direct a LiF-rich interphase toward long-life lithium metal batteries , 2022, Science.

[6]  Jun-tao Li,et al.  Stabilized and Almost Dendrite-Free Li Metal Anodes by In Situ Construction of a Composite Protective Layer for Li Metal Batteries. , 2022, ACS applied materials & interfaces.

[7]  Xiaohui Zhao,et al.  A "Blockchain" Synergy in Conductive Polymer-filled Metal-Organic Frameworks for Dendrite-free Li Plating/Stripping with High Coulombic Efficiency. , 2022, Angewandte Chemie.

[8]  E. Ryan,et al.  Interfacial Studies on the Effects of Patterned Anodes for Guided Lithium Deposition in Lithium Metal Batteries , 2021, Journal of Chemical Physics.

[9]  Yan‐Bing He,et al.  Ultrathin and High-Modulus LiBO2 Layer Highly Elevates the Interfacial Dynamics and Stability of Lithium Anode under Wide Temperature Range. , 2021, Small.

[10]  D. Zhao,et al.  Hierarchically Porous Silica Membrane as Separator for High‐Performance Lithium‐Ion Batteries , 2021, Advanced materials.

[11]  S. Yuan,et al.  Functional polyethylene separator with impurity entrapment and faster Li+ ions transfer for superior lithium-ion batteries. , 2021, Journal of colloid and interface science.

[12]  Dingcai Wu,et al.  Ultrathin Yet Robust Single Lithium‐Ion Conducting Quasi‐Solid‐State Polymer‐Brush Electrolytes Enable Ultralong‐Life and Dendrite‐Free Lithium‐Metal Batteries , 2021, Advanced materials.

[13]  Jiecai Han,et al.  Composite Separators for Robust High Rate Lithium Ion Batteries , 2021, Advanced Functional Materials.

[14]  Yunhui Huang,et al.  A “dendrite-eating” separator for high-areal-capacity lithium-metal batteries , 2020 .

[15]  Jianneng Liang,et al.  Bifunctional composite separator with a solid-state-battery strategy for dendrite-free lithium metal batteries , 2020 .

[16]  Yunfeng Lu,et al.  Electrolyte Membranes with Biomimetic Lithium-Ion Channels. , 2020, Nano letters.

[17]  Yajun Cheng,et al.  A Chronicle Review of Nonsilicon (Sn, Sb, Ge)‐Based Lithium/Sodium‐Ion Battery Alloying Anodes , 2020, Small Methods.

[18]  C. Nan,et al.  Organic-organic composite electrolyte enables ultra-long cycle life in solid-state lithium metal batteries. , 2020, ACS applied materials & interfaces.

[19]  Mengqi Yuan,et al.  Rational design on separators and liquid electrolytes for safer lithium-ion batteries , 2020, Journal of Energy Chemistry.

[20]  L. O’Dell,et al.  Amine‐Functionalized Boron Nitride Nanosheets: A New Functional Additive for Robust, Flexible Ion Gel Electrolyte with High Lithium‐Ion Transference Number , 2020, Advanced Functional Materials.

[21]  Aijun Li,et al.  Thermally stable, nano-porous and eco-friendly sodium alginate/attapulgite separator for lithium-ion batteries , 2019, Energy Storage Materials.

[22]  Feng Li,et al.  Key Aspects of Lithium Metal Anodes for Lithium Metal Batteries. , 2019, Small.

[23]  Seong H. Kim,et al.  Electrokinetic Phenomena Enhanced Lithium‐Ion Transport in Leaky Film for Stable Lithium Metal Anodes , 2019, Advanced Energy Materials.

[24]  F. Liu,et al.  Anion‐Sorbent Composite Separators for High‐Rate Lithium‐Ion Batteries , 2019, Advanced materials.

[25]  Mengchen Zhang,et al.  Controllable ion transport by surface-charged graphene oxide membrane , 2019, Nature Communications.

[26]  B. Helms,et al.  Nanoporous Polymer Films with a High Cation Transference Number Stabilize Lithium Metal Anodes in Light-Weight Batteries for Electrified Transportation. , 2019, Nano letters.

[27]  J. Travas-sejdic,et al.  Grafting Poly(acrylic acid) from PEDOT To Control the Deposition and Growth of Platinum Nanoparticles for Enhanced Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution , 2019, ACS Applied Energy Materials.

[28]  Stefano Passerini,et al.  Single‐Ion Conducting Electrolyte Based on Electrospun Nanofibers for High‐Performance Lithium Batteries , 2019, Advanced Energy Materials.

[29]  P. Kim,et al.  High Performance Lithium Metal Batteries Enabled by Surface Tailoring of Polypropylene Separator with a Polydopamine/Graphene Layer , 2018, Advanced Energy Materials.

[30]  Danielle M. Butts,et al.  Sulfide Solid Electrolytes for Lithium Battery Applications , 2018, Advanced Energy Materials.

[31]  Jonathan L. Brosmer,et al.  Creating Lithium‐Ion Electrolytes with Biomimetic Ionic Channels in Metal–Organic Frameworks , 2018, Advanced materials.

[32]  Bin Liu,et al.  Advancing Lithium Metal Batteries , 2018 .

[33]  Olimpia D. Onelli,et al.  Anomalous‐Diffusion‐Assisted Brightness in White Cellulose Nanofibril Membranes , 2018, Advanced materials.

[34]  Hongkyung Lee,et al.  Suppressing Lithium Dendrite Growth by Metallic Coating on a Separator , 2017 .

[35]  Narendra Kumar,et al.  Lithium-Ion Model Behavior in an Ethylene Carbonate Electrolyte Using Molecular Dynamics , 2016 .

[36]  Erik W Draeger,et al.  Lithium ion solvation and diffusion in bulk organic electrolytes from first-principles and classical reactive molecular dynamics. , 2015, The journal of physical chemistry. B.

[37]  Petr Král,et al.  Molecular Friction-Induced Electroosmotic Phenomena in Thin Neutral Nanotubes. , 2014, The journal of physical chemistry letters.

[38]  P. Král,et al.  Material drag phenomena in nanotubes. , 2013, Chemical reviews.

[39]  H. J. Sand.  III. On the concentration at the electrodes in a solution, with special reference to the liberation of hydrogen by electrolysis of a mixture of copper sulphate and sulphuric acid , 1901 .