Lithium-Ion: Anode

How To Avoid Plating And Dendrites While Fast Charging Graphite Anodes Using ab initio simulations, Bhandari et al. predict that Li deposition occurs in the following stages: at positive voltages vs. Li, surface deposition of Li+ ions is the dominant process; below a critical cross-over voltage 12 mV on the basal plane of unlithiated graphite and 29 mV on lithiated graphite), the reduction of aggregated Li+ ions and the formation of metallic Li clusters takes over. The authors encourage experimentalists to verify these results.

On the same subject, Liu et al., wrote a review of the fundamentals of dendritic metallic Li formation and strategies for suppressing metallic Li plating. They describe the entire Li + transport pathway at the anode including effects from the electrolyte, pore structure of electrode, and surface and bulk of the materials.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

SEI on graphite is still not fully understood. Reversible, uniform lithium plating might be the best strategy for fast charging graphite.

Source: Bhandari et al, J Mat Chem A, 2024; Liu et al. J. En Chem, 2024

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