A Review of Carbon-Based Materials for Safe Lithium Metal Anodes

Yan Liu; Xifei Li; Linlin Fan; Shufeng Li; Hirbod Maleki Kheimeh Sari; Jian Qin

doi:10.3389/fchem.2019.00721

A Review of Carbon-Based Materials for Safe Lithium Metal Anodes

Front Chem. 2019 Nov 4:7:721. doi: 10.3389/fchem.2019.00721. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Yan Liu^{1

2}, Xifei Li^{1

2

3}, Linlin Fan^{1

2}, Shufeng Li¹, Hirbod Maleki Kheimeh Sari^{1

2}, Jian Qin^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Institute of Advanced Electrochemical Energy, Xi'an University of Technology, Xi'an, China.
² Shaanxi International Joint Research Center of Surface Technology for Energy Storage Materials, Xi'an, China.
³ State Center for International Cooperation on Designer Low-Carbon & Environmental Materials (CDLCEM), Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.

Abstract

Lithium metal is a promising anode material with extremely high theoretical specific capacity (3,860 mA h g^-1), low density (0.59 g cm^-3), and the lowest negative electrochemical potential of all potential candidates (-3.04 V vs. the standard hydrogen electrode). However, uncontrollable Li dendrite growth leads to a short lifespan and catastrophic safety hazards, which has restricted its practical application for many years. Some effective strategies have been adopted regarding these challenges, including electrolyte modification, introducing a protective layer, nanostructured anodes, and membrane modification. Carbon-based materials have been demonstrated to significantly address the challenge of Li dendrites. In this review, carbon-based materials and their application and challenges in lithium metal anode protection have been discussed in detail. In addition, the applications of lithium anodes protected by carbon-based materials in Li-S batteries and Li-O₂ batteries have been summarized.

Keywords: carbon-based materials; dendrite; electrochemical performance; energy storage; lithium metal anodes.

Publication types

Review