Synergy of Weakly Solvated Electrolyte and LiF-Reinforced Interphase Enables Long-Term Operation of Li-Metal Batteries at Low Temperatures.

Hindered by the high diffusion energy barrier of Li in graphite anode layers, the low-temperature application of traditional Li-ion batteries is limited. Lithium metal without intercalation and with excellent specific capacity is expected to support battery operation at low temperatures. However, due to the low conductivity, high freezing point, and strong solvation energy of traditional carbonate electrolytes, the application of lithium-metal batteries at low temperatures remains challenged.

Boosting Cathode Activity and Anode Stability of Lithium-Sulfur Batteries with Vigorous Iodic Species Triggered by Nitrate.

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery with a sulfurized polyacrylonitrile cathode is a promising alternative to Li-ion systems. However, the sluggish charge transfer of cathode and accumulation of inactive Li on anode remain persistent challenges. An advanced electrolyte additive with function towards both cathode and anode holds great promise to address these issues.

Metal-organic-framework derived NiS2/C hollow structures for enhanced polysulfide redox kinetics in lithium-sulfur batteries.

To cope with the shuttling of soluble lithium polysulfides in lithium-sulfur batteries, confinement tactics, such as trapping of sulfur within porous carbon structures, have been extensively studied. Although performance has improved a bit, the slow polysulfide conversion inducing fast capacity decay remains a big challenge. Herein, a NiS2/carbon (NiS2/C) composite with NiS2 nanoparticles embedded in a thin layer of carbon over the surface of micro-sized hollow structures has been prepared from Ni-metal-organic frameworks.

A Stabilized Li-Metal Anode with a Ti-Based Metal-Organic Framework Electronic Shield.

The insufficient cyclic efficiency and poor safety have prohibited the commercial applications of the lithium-metal anode because of its uncontrolled dendrite growth at the surface. A mechanically stable and highly ionic conductive solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) holds great promise to address the issues. Herein, a viable surface engineering approach is proposed for stabilizing the Li anode via a scalable artificial method.