Abstract
Lithium-metal batteries (LMBs) have much attention over the state-of-the-art lithium-ion batteries (LIMs) in term of the energy density. As compared with the conventional graphite anode of LIBs, lithium anode has a high theoretical specific capacity (3860 mA h g-1) and a low electrochemical potential (-3.04 V vs SHE). Nonetheless, no stable solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) forms on the surface of lithium metal. The continuous electrolyte consumption along with the non-uniform lithium deposition leads to the limited cell lifespan and cell safety concern, both of which impede their LMBs practical applications. To address the problems, herein, we introduce an alloying protective layer on lithium metal anode integrating with thin Al2O3 layer modified on LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 (NMC811) cathode to prolong lifespan of batteries. By using the lithium alloy protective layer, the LMB exhibits good stability performance better than the fresh Li metal approximately 20%. We hope that this perspective together can be a guiding principle for the next-generation practical batteries.
Figure 1