Toward the Scale‐Up of Solid‐State Lithium Metal Batteries: The Gaps between Lab‐Level Cells and Practical Large‐Format Batteries

Abstract

In addition, LIBs still suffer from high cost, limited durability, and poor safety. [3] As a consequence, an alternative rechargeable battery system is crucial to cope with the growing demands of electric vehicles. [4] The prior demand for a power battery is security. The conventional power batteries suffered from frequent combustion accidents. The ascending voltage of cathodes will lead to stability concerns. Most of the thermal runaway is triggered by the reaction derived from electrodes. [6] The decomposition of cathode materials releases heat and oxygen and will trigger the combustion of flammable organic electrolytes. However, the high-energy cathode is essential for an energy-dense battery. Hence the substitution of conventional organic electrolytes is feasible to both enhance the energy density and battery safety. [5,7] The replacement of organic liquid electrolytes (OLEs) with solid-state electrolytes (SSEs) provides a promising future for the large-scale application of lithium metal batteries (LMBs). SSEs with wide electrochemical stability windows and high modulus possess the potential to enable high-capacity electrode materials and prevent Li dendritic deposition. [8] Besides, the SSEs also possess good thermal stability, which enables a wide operation temperature range and avoid the combustion risk. The introduction of SSEs allows a simplified battery design and minimization of inactive materials, consequently increasing energy density at the cell-level. Moreover, the solid-state electrolytes enable the employment of Li metal anodes, which is considered as the most promising anode for next-generation rechargeable batteries due to its ultrahigh theoretical specific capacity of 3860 mAh g −1 and lowest negative electrochemical potential (−3.04 V vs the standard hydrogen electrode). [9] In conventional organic electrolytes, lithium metal suffers from the unstable solid-state interphase, dendrite penetration, and pulverization issues. [1c,10] The rapid deterioration of LMBs is attributed to the high reactivity of lithium metal. [11] Virtually most conventional OLEs can be reduced at the Li surface, forming unstable solid electrolyte interphase (SEI). During repeated charge-discharge cycles, Li tends to generate dendritic morphology because of nonuniform current/ion distribution. [12] Lithium dendrites normally lead to the fracture and regeneration of SEI, further aggravating the dendrite growth. [12a,13] The The scale-up process of solid-state lithium metal batteries is of great importance in the context of improving the safety and energy density of battery systems. Replacing the conventional organic liquid electrolytes (OLEs) with solid-state electrolytes (SSEs) opens a new path for addressing increasing energy demands. Advanced approaches have been validated in lab-scale cells, but only a few successful results can be applied on the practical scale. Herein, the battery systems enabled by SSEs are briefly reviewed and the difficulties and challenges for both lab-level cells and large-scale batteries from...

From Lithium‐Metal toward Anode‐Free Solid‐State Batteries: Current Developments, Issues, and Challenges

“…[35] However, compared to LIB, the solid-state battery is still in its infancy and most practical experience exists only at the laboratory level. Xu et al [36] recently reviewed the state-of-the-art regarding scalability of LMSSB, pointing out the gaps between lab-level cells and practical large-format batteries. Wang et al [37] provided a very recent perspectives article dealing with the transition of SSB from lab to market, especially highlighting the links between electro-chemo-mechanics and practical considerations.…”

“…Besides critical issues regarding large scale production and costs of different types of SSE and the composite cathode, which are similar for SSB, LMSSB, and AFSSB, the scalability of anode manufacturing and cell assembly still remains challenging. [36,39] The high reactivity of Li with components of ambient air (oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, moisture) [40] requires demanding dry room conditions, which comes at high acquisition, operating and maintenance costs. Alternatively, the application of an additional protective layer is investigated to increase the oxidation stability during manufacturing, [33,41] which, however, means additional process steps and corresponding costs.…”

“…[17,47] However, direct transfer of these strategies to practical batteries appears not promising in most cases. [36] The strategies at the lab-level help tremendously in solving the problem from the mechanism point of view. However, rational application techniques are also important to realize these solutions in scaled-up battery systems.…”

“…This makes it difficult to estimate the actual achievable energy density and can result in performance parameters that are significantly behind those of conventional LIBs. [36] Randau et al provided a comprehensive analysis, benchmarking the performance of solid-state lithium batteries. [255] Based on their literature survey and extensive analysis, the authors concluded that the differences in specific energy and specific power of available solid state batteries mostly originate from differences in layer thicknesses and internal resistance.…”

A Highly Reversible Lithium Metal Anode by Constructing Lithiophilic Bi‐Nanosheets

“…Thus, some strategies attempt to replace the liquid electrolytes with solid-state electrolytes to suppress the growth of lithium dendrites and improve the safety, while the low ionic conductivity and poor interfacial compatibility hinder their depth development. [24][25][26][27] In that case, many researchers focus their attention on the modification of 3D hosts of metallic lithium. Modified 3D hosts can significantly reduce local current density, ease volume expansion, promote uniform plating/stripping of lithium, inhibit dendrite growth, and greatly improve electrochemical performance eventually.…”