Ruliang
Liu
*,
Wenli
Feng
,
Liangzhou
Fang
,
Huiping
Deng
,
Ling
Lin
,
MinChang
Chen
,
Jun-Xing
Zhong
* and
Wei
Yin
School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Guangdong University of Education, Guangzhou 510303, China. E-mail: liuruliang0402@163.com; Zhongjunxing@gdei.edu.cn
First published on 10th October 2024
Developing an artificial solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) with high Li ion flux is vital to improve the cycling stability of lithium metal batteries, especially under a high rate. In this work, a novel artificial SEI film was prepared via in situ deposition of a lithium-doped cesium lead chloride perovskite (Li–CsPbCl3). Benefiting from its ultra-high thickness (0.45 μm), high mechanical modulus (5.9 GPa), high lithium-ion migration number (0.57), and unique highly oriented framework, the Li–CsPbCl3 SEI film could promote the rapid transport and uniform deposition of lithium ions, enhancing the stability of lithium deposition and stripping. As a result, Li/Li symmetric cells based on the Li–CsPbCl3 protective film could cycle stably for 1300 hours under high current density of 10 mA cm−2. In addition, the Li/LiFePO4 battery using the Li–CsPbCl3 SEI film showed an impressive cycling stability with a capacity retention rate of up to 91.4% after 230 cycles at a high current rate of 3C.
To date, numerous approaches have been devoted to suppressing the uncontrolled growth of lithium dendrites, such as solid-state electrolytes,10–17 functional separators,18–20 and 3D porous lithium hosts.21–23 Because of the low ion conductivity for solid-state electrolytes, a large proportion of inactive components in 3D porous lithium hosts and functional separators, these approaches will seriously damage the rate performance and energy density of lithium metal batteries. Apart from these methods, a method of suppressing lithium dendrites by constructing artificial solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) layers is available.24 Generally, a pristine SEI layer can be naturally formed via side reactions between Li metal and organic electrolytes. Owing to the poor mechanical strength and uniform coverage of a pristine SEI layer, it is still very difficult for the pristine SEI layer to inhibit the growth of lithium dendrites during long-term Li plating/stripping. Moreover, the pristine SEI layer will undergo repeated rupture and growth because of the unavoidable mechanical deformation of lithium metal electrodes, which can consume a large amount of electrolyte and give rise to the poor cycling stability of lithium metal batteries.25,26
Surface coating of Li metal with functional materials, including organic polymers, inorganic non-metallic materials, metal alloys and composite membranes, have been applied to prepare a series of artificial SEI layers, and has been considered an effective strategy for homogeneous Li deposition and long-life LMBs.27–30 For example, Liang et al. reported an interfacial layer through the electrostatic integration of the cationic polymer poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) with commercial bamboo fibers (PBFs) to precisely regulate the SEI at the molecular level.31 Wu et al. developed a robust all-organic artificial SEI layer (xPCMS-g-PEGMA). Due to enhanced mechanical robustness, adequate ionic conduction channels, and uniform Li+ diffusion, xPCMS-g-PEGMA achieved a highly efficient and dendrite-free lithium metal anode.32 These artificial SEI layers can separate the lithium metal anode from the electrolyte and exhibit the ability to inhibit Li dendrite growth. However, the liquid electrolyte can still penetrate the entire artificial SEI layer during long cycles, leading to spontaneous side reactions at the interface. More seriously, the incompatibility between structural stability and high ion conductivity, poor interconnectivity at the interface, and a relatively thick surface coating hinder Li plating/stripping, further limiting the capacity and long cycle performance of lithium metal batteries. Therefore, developing novel functional materials with good structural stability and lithium-ion conductivity to construct high-performance ultrathin artificial SEI films remains a huge challenge.
Metal halide perovskite (ABX3, X is a halide) is known as a class of perovskites that consists of corner-sharing BX6 octahedra and AX12 cuboctahedra.33 Due to its adjustable three-dimensional framework structure and bandgap, metal halide perovskites can achieve Li+ conduction and electronic insulation, which is expected to become a promising candidate for constructing a high-performance SEI layer. Recently, Yao et al. reported metal chloride perovskite (MASnCl3 or MAPbCl3) as the artificial SEI layers to stabilize the Li metal anode and achieved the stable cycling of LiCoO2/Li cells.34 Yi et al. developed a fluoride perovskite as an artificial solid electrolyte interface (SEI) to induce uniform lithium deposition for air-stable and dendrite-free lithium metal anode.35 However, under high current density, conventional perovskites can limit the transport efficiency of lithium ions in the lattice and still lead to uneven lithium deposition. Thus, it is very important to designing novel perovskites with high lithium-ion conduction to regulate Li flux in the SEI.
In this work, for the first time, we reported a class of ultrathin Li-doped metal halide perovskite (Li–CsPbCl3) as artificial SEI layers to achieve long-term Li plating/stripping cycling under high current densities. As shown in Fig. 1, benefiting from the tough and dense inorganic components, ordered 3D skeleton structure and abundant pre-embedded lithium ions in the perovskite nanolattice, our Li–CsPbCl3 can significantly enhance the mechanical properties of the membrane, block the infiltration of organic electrolyte solvents, improve the transport efficiency of lithium ions, and homogenize the lithium-ion flow. Furthermore, due to the excellent dispersibility of Li–CsPbCl3 in organic solvents, an ultrathin yet uniform SEI layer based on Li–CsPbCl3 coating was easily obtained via the facile spin coating method. As a result, such Li–CsPbCl3-protected Li anodes enable uniform Li plating/stripping at an ultrahigh current density of 10 mA cm−2 over 1200 h in Li symmetrical cells.
Fig. 3a displays the galvanostatic voltage profiles of Li deposition on bare Cu and Li–CsPbCl3-coated Cu (Cu@ Li–CsPbCl3) electrodes. The nucleation overpotential of lithium on copper foil modified with Li CsPbCl3 artificial SEI film (Cu@Li–CsPbCl3) is only 18 mV, much lower than the nucleation overpotential of lithium on untreated copper foil (40 mV), indicating that Li–CsPbCl3 has lower Li plating resistance and is beneficial for Li nucleation. The Li plating/stripping behavior of Li/Cu half-cells using Cu@Li–CsPbCl3 and bare Cu electrode was measured at a capacity of 1 mA h cm−2 and 1 mA cm−2. As displayed in Fig. 3b, it was found that Li/Cu half-cells with Cu@Li–CsPbCl3 can cycle for 120 cycles with a high average Coulombic efficiency (CE) of 98.7%. In sharp contrast, the CE of the Li/Cu half cells with bare Cu begins to decline after only 30 cycles and rapidly decreases after 58 cycles, which obtains a lower average CE of 85.6%. It is worth noting that such a high average CE is comparable to that of previous asymmetric Li/Cu cells (e.g., 96% for ND, 94.7% for OPEs).37–40 This result indicates that our artificial Li–CsPbCl3SEI film can suppress the parasitic side reactions between the lithium metal anode and electrolyte, achieving efficient lithium deposition and stripping. To investigate the lithium ion conducting ability of the Li–CsPbCl3 SEI film, the lithium-ion transference number (tLi+) was measured via the chronoamperometry profiles and EIS of Li/Li symmetric cells. According to the calculations, the lithium-ion migration number of the Li–CsPbCl3 SEI film is up to 0.57, significantly higher than that of the polyolefin membrane (0.26), indicating that the Li–CsPbCl3 artificial SEI film has lithium single ion transport characteristics, which is beneficial for reducing the concentration gradient of lithium ions and enhancing the uniform deposition of lithium ions. Furthermore, the interface impedance of the Li/Li symmetric cell with the artificial Li–CsPbCl3 SEI film is only 158 Ω much lower than that of the Li/Li symmetric cell with bare Li (315 Ω), demonstrating that the Li–CsPbCl3 artificial SEI film significantly improves the transport kinetics of lithium ions at the interface. Benefiting from its unique physical and chemical properties, the Li–CsPbCl3 artificial SEI film can upregulate the transport and deposition behavior of lithium ions at the molecular level, which is thereby expected to limit the growth of lithium dendrites.
To evaluate their cycling stability during the lithium plating/stripping process, Li/Li symmetric cells with bare Li, CsPbCl3 film and Li–CsPbCl3 film were assembled and tested by galvanostatic cycling. Under the condition of a low current density of 1 mA cm−2, the cycling lifespan of Li/Li symmetric cells using bare Li and Li@CsPbCl3 only hold on remains 620 h and 900 h, respectively. As a comparison, the Li/Li symmetric cell with the Li–CsPbCl3 SEI film shows a tremendously prolonged lifetime of 1100 h cycles. The EIS of the Li/Li symmetric cell with the Li–CsPbCl3 SEI film during cycling was investigated. As the number of cycles increases, the interface impedance gradually decreases and stabilizes at 70 Ω after 50 cycles, indicating that the Li–CsPbCl3 SEI film could promote the interface stability between the electrolyte and electrode during cycling (Fig. S2, ESI†). When the current density is increased to 5 mA h cm−2, the Li@Li–CsPbCl3/Li@Li–CsPbCl3 symmetric cell still exhibits excellent stability of Li plating/stripping, and the cycling lifetime is up to 1200 h. In sharp contrast, the Li/Li symmetric cell shows substantially larger overpotentials with severely fluctuating voltage profiles and shorter cycling lifetime (180 h). The test current density is further increased to 10 mA cm−2; the Li@Li–CsPbCl3/Li@Li–CsPbCl3 symmetric cell displays a very stable voltage plateau even after long-time cycling for over 1300 h. By comparison, the Li/Li symmetric cell using bare Li anode exhibits much poor cycling stability (failed within only 150 h) with larger overpotentials and severely fluctuating voltage profiles at high current densities. More importantly, most of the reported artificial SEI films still suffer from low current density (≤5 mA cm−2). Therefore, our Li–CsPbCl3 SEI film shows great advantage in the endurance of ultrahigh current density.
In order to investigate the inhibitory effect of the Li–CsPbCl3 SEI film on lithium dendrites and its electrochemical stability, SEM was performed to examine the lithium metal surface morphology changes of the Li/Li symmetric cells before and after cycling. As shown in Fig. 4, the surface of pristine lithium metal is observed to be smooth and dense. After 100 cycles at a current density of 5 mA h cm−2, the surface of the cycled lithium foil becomes uneven with a large number of moss-like particles appearing, indicating the uncontrolled growth of dendrites. However, after cycling the Li@Li–CsPbCl3/Li@Li–CsPbCl3 symmetric cell under the same conditions, the lithium metal surface still remains smooth, indicating that the lithium-doped perovskite SEI film can effectively inhibit the growth of lithium dendrites. In addition, for the Li@Li–CsPbCl3/Li@Li–CsPbCl3 symmetric cell, the morphology of the Li–CsPbCl3 film coated on the lithium metal surface does not show significant changes before and after cycling, indicating that the Li–CsPbCl3 SEI film has good electrochemical stability. On the other hand, the XRD characterization of the Li@Li–CsPbCl3 electrode from the Li@Li–CsPbCl3/Li@Li–CsPbCl3 symmetric cells before and after the cycles is also conducted. As shown in Fig. 5g, the characteristic diffraction peaks of Li@CsPbCl3 and the Li@Li–CsPbCl3 electrode before and after cycling did not show significant changes, further demonstrating the high electrochemical stability of Li–CsPbCl3. Compared with the Li@Li–CsPbCl3 film, the peak value of lithium from Li@CsPbCl3 is weaker, which may be attributed to the loss of lithium ions in the SEI film during battery charging and discharging. The XRD results indicate that the lithium-doped perovskite SEI film can be beneficial for accelerating the transport of lithium ions.
Fig. 4 Voltage–time curves of Li/Li and Li@Li–CsPbCl3/Li@Li–CsPbCl3 symmetric cells with an areal capacity of 1 mAh cm−2 at a current density of (a) 1 mA cm−2, (b) 5 mA cm−2, and (c) 10 mA cm−2. |
Given the excellent cycling stability of the artificial Li–CsPbCl3 SEI film in Li/Li symmetric cells, Li/LiFePO4 full cells with bare Li and Li@Li–CsPbCl3 electrode were assembled to investigate the practical application potential of the artificial Li–CsPbCl3 SEI film. As shown in Fig. 6a, as the current density increases, the Li/LiFePO4 full cell using the Li@Li–CsPbCl3 electrode can still deliver high discharge capacities of 162.7, 160.5, 153.8, 143.1, 128.8, and 118.6 mA h g−1 at 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1, 2 and 3C, respectively. However, the cell with a bare Li anode displays much inferior rate performance; the discharge specific capacities are 136.7, 133.5, 125.3, 116, 103.6 and 94.6 mA h g−1 at 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1, 2 and 3C, respectively. The corresponding charge–discharge profiles at these different rates are presented in Fig. 6b and c. Compared with bare Li electrode, the Li@Li–CsPbCl3 electrode has a much lower and more stable polarization voltage. In addition, the long cycling performance of Li/LiFePO4 cells with bare Li and Li@Li–CsPbCl3 electrode at a high current density of 3C is shown in Fig. 6d. The Li@Li–CsPbCl3/LiFePO4 cell presents an impressive cycling stability with a high-capacity retention of 91.4%, and the specific capacity is still up to 106.8 mA h g−1 at the 230th cycle. In sharp contrast, the specific capacity of the Li/LiFePO4 cell is as low as 16 mA h g−1 at the 200th cycle with a low-capacity retention of 15.1%. These results demonstrate that our ultrathin Li–CsPbCl3 SEI film can obviously enhance the electrochemical performance of the Li/LiFePO4 full cell, which could be attributed to the homogenous Li+ flux and several fast transmission channels enabled by the 3D nanonetwork skeleton with a highly oriented crystal structure.
The electrochemical performances of the Li/Cu cells, symmetric Li/Li cells and Li/LiFePO4 cells were measured by a NEWARE Battery Test System (Shenzhen Neware Electronics Co., Ltd, Shenzhen, China).
Li+ transference number (tLi+) was calculated based on the following eqn (1)
(1) |
Footnote |
† Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/d4ya00507d |
This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2024 |