Lithium power battery cathode material breakthrough, SHANDONG university to solve the problem of lithium metal anode application.

Lithium metal is a perfect substitute for graphite as the cathode material for lithium-ion batteries, allowing the latter to overcome the range gap. The latest work by FENG JIN KUI, an associate professor at SHANDONG university's school of materials science and engineering, was published in the top journal NANO energy. The technology promises to revolutionize lithium-ion batteries, which are considered "unsuitable for electric vehicles".

SHANDONG university has overcome the biggest problem of lithium metal anode application

Pure electric vehicles are the focus of the automotive industry, and lithium power battery, one of its core components, has been repeatedly pushed to the forefront of public opinion. The "criticism" of lithium power battery performance and battery life is the biggest complaint. This is because lithium power battery technology has not been obvious breakthrough in recent years. It is known that the commercial battery cathode is mainly graphite anode material with low capacity, which limits the battery's energy density and range. In contrast, lithium metal is an ideal anode material for lithium batteries, which can solve the problem of energy density and range.

According to FENG JIN KUI, to use metallic lithium as the cathode material for lithium ion batteries, two major problems need to be overcome: safety and cycle life. Is the main problem that plagued lithium metal anode, lithium dendrite in the process of circulation, due to the factors of local polarization, lithium dendrite growth makes metallic lithium surface, when lithium dendrite growth to a certain extent can penetrate the diaphragm, causing security issues, in addition, if the lithium dendrite fracture can form "dead lithium", thereby causing loss to the battery capacity, so the lithium dendrite is the biggest obstacle to hinder the application of lithium metal anode.

Associate professor FENG JIN Sui's research group used vacuum distillation to remove the low-boiling point metal zinc from commercial brass to synthesize 3D porous copper, and used it as the collector fluid of lithium metal cathode. Vacuum distillation is a method to obtain pure high-boiling products by vaporizing one or more components of the precursor. This method is environmentally friendly, low cost and easy to industrialize. The pore size and porosity of the prepared porous copper can be controlled by distillation time and temperature, and the by-product zinc can be recycled. The porous copper can inhibit the growth of lithium dendrite and improve the safety of the battery. It can also alleviate the volume expansion in the circulation process, so as to form a stable SEI film and electrode structure, and obtain good circulation performance and multiplier performance.

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