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DOE OSTI · 2587979

Stabilizing lithium-metal electrodes with polymer coatings

Huang, Zhuojun [Stanford Univ., CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000162368693)·Lyu, Hao [Stanford Univ., CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000173932456)·Greenburg, Louisa C. [Stanford Univ., CA (United States)]·Cui, Yi [Stanford Univ., CA (United States); SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States). Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Science (SIMES)] (ORCID:0000000261036352)·Bao, Zhenan [Stanford Univ., CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000209721715)
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Abstract

Increasing the energy density of batteries can accelerate the deployment of electric vehicles, expand the utilization of renewable energy and, in turn, reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Different from commercially available lithium-ion batteries, high-energy-density lithium-metal batteries use metallic lithium instead of graphite as the negative electrode. Furthermore, the commercialization of lithium-metal batteries is hindered by the electrochemical instability of lithium metal. Polymer coatings have shown promise in addressing issues related to each step of heterogeneous lithium deposition. Here we summarize the current understanding of key design principles and highlight relevant coating compositions. Moreover, we discuss high-performing coating–electrolyte pairs and provide an outlook on interface design for novel electrolytes.

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Huang, Zhuojun [Stanford Univ., CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000162368693), Lyu, Hao [Stanford Univ., CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000173932456), Greenburg, Louisa C. [Stanford Univ., CA (United States)], Cui, Yi [Stanford Univ., CA (United States); SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States). Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Science (SIMES)] (ORCID:0000000261036352), Bao, Zhenan [Stanford Univ., CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000209721715). 2025-05-14. Stabilizing lithium-metal electrodes with polymer coatings. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-025-01767-z

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