Stress-driven lithium dendrite growth mechanism and dendrite mitigation by electroplating on soft substrates

Problems related to dendrite growth on lithium-metal anodes such as capacity loss and short circuit present major barriers to next-generation high-energy-density batteries. The development of successful lithium dendrite mitigation strategies is impeded by an incomplete understanding of the Li dendrite growth mechanisms, and in particular, Li-plating-induced internal stress in Li metal and its effect on Li growth morphology are not well addressed. Here, we reveal the enabling role of plating residual stress in dendrite formation through depositing Li on soft substrates and a stress-driven dendrite growth model. We show that dendrite growth is mitigated on such soft substrates through surface-wrinkling-induced stress relaxation in the deposited Li film. We demonstrate that this dendrite mitigation mechanism can be utilized synergistically with other existing approaches in the form of three-dimensional soft scaffolds for Li plating, which achieves higher coulombic efficiency and better capacity retention than that for conventional copper substrates.A great deal of effort in tackling the Li dendrite issues in Li-metal batteries is ongoing, but stresses caused by Li plating are often overlooked. Here, the authors study the stress-driven dendrite growth mechanism and propose using soft substrates for Li deposition to mitigate Li dendritic growth.

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