posted on 2022-12-23, 15:08authored byShikang Huo, Yunfeng Zhang, Yang He, Weizhen Fan, Zhenyuan Hu, Wei Bao, Xiao Jing, Hansong Cheng
Artificial polymeric solid electrolyte interfaces (APSEIs)
are
an emerging material that enables use of a lithium metal anode as
a lithium metal battery technique with high energy density. However,
the poor ionic conductivity, low lithium transference number, and
bad compatibity with lithium metal anode lead to a large dissipative
loss of energy capacity. Here we report that, by properly constructing
a brush-like structure in cellulose nanofibril (CNF) based APSEIs,
a good ion-aggregation morphology with interconnected ionic conducting
channels can be built, such that the Li-ion conduction in the APSEI
layer becomes highly efficient. The optimal approach to constructing
such an ionic highway is proved computationally using coarse-grained
molecular dynamics (CGMD) simulations and implemented experimentally
based on transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy
(AFM). In addition, Li-ion exchange structures and hydroxyl-abundant
structures endow the APSEIs with good ability to suppress dendrite
growth and excellent compatibility with the anode surface.