Kim Jung-Hui, Kim Ju-Myung, Cho Seok-Kyu, Kim Nag-Young, Lee Sang-Young
Department of Energy Engineering, School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan, 44919, Republic of Korea.
Energy and Environment Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, 99353, USA.
Nat Commun. 2022 May 9;13(1):2541. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-30112-1.
Lithium metal batteries have higher theoretical energy than their Li-ion counterparts, where graphite is used at the anode. However, one of the main stumbling blocks in developing practical Li metal batteries is the lack of cathodes with high-mass-loading capable of delivering highly reversible redox reactions. To overcome this issue, here we report an electrode structure that incorporates a UV-cured non-aqueous gel electrolyte and a cathode where the LiNiCoMnO active material is contained in an electron-conductive matrix produced via simultaneous electrospinning and electrospraying. This peculiar structure prevents the solvent-drying-triggered non-uniform distribution of electrode components and shortens the time for cell aging while improving the overall redox homogeneity. Moreover, the electron-conductive matrix eliminates the use of the metal current collector. When a cathode with a mass loading of 60 mg cm is coupled with a 100 µm thick Li metal electrode using additional non-aqueous fluorinated electrolyte solution in lab-scale pouch cell configuration, a specific energy and energy density of 321 Wh kg and 772 Wh L (based on the total mass of the cell), respectively, can be delivered in the initial cycle at 0.1 C (i.e., 1.2 mA cm) and 25 °C.
锂金属电池比使用石墨作为阳极的锂离子电池具有更高的理论能量。然而，开发实用锂金属电池的主要障碍之一是缺乏能够实现高度可逆氧化还原反应的高质量负载阴极。为克服这一问题，我们在此报告一种电极结构，该结构包含紫外线固化非水凝胶电解质和阴极，其中LiNiCoMnO活性材料包含在通过同步电纺丝和电喷雾产生的电子导电基质中。这种特殊结构可防止溶剂干燥引发的电极成分分布不均，并缩短电池老化时间，同时提高整体氧化还原均匀性。此外，电子导电基质无需使用金属集流体。当在实验室规模的软包电池配置中，将质量负载为60 mg/cm²的阴极与100 µm厚的锂金属电极通过额外的非水氟化电解质溶液耦合时，在0.1 C（即1.2 mA/cm²）和25°C的初始循环中，可分别提供321 Wh/kg和772 Wh/L（基于电池总质量）的比能量和能量密度。
