Researchers have created a rechargeable lithium metal battery with three times the capacity of commercial lithium-ion batteries.
The new battery stores lithium in a unique anode, a seamless hybrid of graphene and carbon nanotubes. The material, first created in 2012, is essentially a three-dimensional carbon surface that provides abundant area for lithium to inhabit.
The anode itself approaches the theoretical maximum for storage of lithium metal while resisting the formation of damaging dendrites or “mossy” deposits.
Dendrites have bedeviled attempts to replace lithium-ion with advanced lithium metal batteries that last longer and charge faster. Dendrites are lithium deposits that grow into the battery’s electrolyte. If they bridge the anode and cathode and create a short circuit, the battery may fail, catch fire, or even explode.
A team of researchers led by chemist James Tour found that when the new batteries are charged, lithium metal evenly coats the highly conductive carbon hybrid in which nanotubes are covalently bonded to the graphene surface.
As reported in the journal ACS Nano, the hybrid replaces graphite anodes in common lithium-ion batteries that trade capacity for safety.
“Lithium-ion batteries have changed the world, no doubt,” Tour says, “but they’re about as good as they’re going to get. Your cellphone’s battery won’t last any longer until new technology comes along.”
The Air Force Office of Scientific Research Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative supported the research.