Images Reveal Clumpy Corrosion that Ages a Lithium-Metal Electrode (IMAGE)

DOE/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Images Reveal Clumpy Corrosion that Ages a Lithium-Metal Electrode

Caption

Each time a lithium metal battery charges, a fresh layer of lithium metal is deposited on its anode. The battery's electrolyte corrodes this fresh metal, (left), forming a layer called SEI on the anode's surface. The corrosion continues (right) even after the battery is turned off, and the SEI layer becomes irregular and clumpy in a process called calendar aging that can drain 2-3% of the battery's charge in just 24 hours, according to a study at Stanford University and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. These images were made with a cryogenic electron microscope, or cryo-EM.

Credit

William Huang/Stanford University

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