Direct in Situ Measurements of Electrical Properties of Solid-electrolyte Interphase on Lithium Metal Anodes

Overview

Journal Nat Energy

Publisher Springer Nature

Date 2024 Jan 22

PMID 38249622

Authors

Yaobin Xu

Hao Jia

Peiyuan Gao

Diego E Galvez-Aranda

Saul Perez Beltran

Xia Cao

Phung M L Le

Jianfang Liu

Mark H Engelhard

Shuang Li

Gang Ren

Jorge M Seminario

Perla B Balbuena

Ji-Guang Zhang

Wu Xu

Chongmin Wang

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) critically governs the performance of rechargeable batteries. An ideal SEI is expected to be electrically insulative to prevent persistently parasitic reactions between the electrode and the electrolyte and ionically conductive to facilitate Faradaic reactions of the electrode. However, the true nature of the electrical properties of the SEI remains hitherto unclear due to the lack of a direct characterization method. Here we use in situ bias transmission electron microscopy to directly measure the electrical properties of SEIs formed on copper and lithium substrates. We reveal that SEIs show a voltage-dependent differential conductance. A higher rate of differential conductance induces a thicker SEI with an intricate topographic feature, leading to an inferior Coulombic efficiency and cycling stability in Li∣∣Cu and Li∣∣LiNiMnCoO cells. Our work provides insight into the targeted design of the SEI with desired characteristics towards better battery performance.

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