Novel Host Material Comprising Carbon Encapsulated Silver Selenide Nanocrystals for Stable Lithium Metal Anodes

 

Lithium (Li) metal anodes are preferred in battery systems for their high theoretical capacity. Unfortunately, these anodes face a fundamental issue of dendrite growth, which causes low Coulombic efficiency and reduces the battery’s cycle life. To address this issue, researchers developed a new three-dimensional conductive host material comprised of silver selenide (Ag2Se) nanocrystals encapsulated within porous carbon microspheres. During initial discharging, Ag2Se was converted into an Ag–Li alloy and Li2Se, creating pathways for efficient lithium transport while the closed-pore structure of the carbon scaffolds prevented dendrite growth. Comparative studies with open-pore and densely structured battery variants demonstrated that the closed-pore configuration delivered superior cycling stability and reduced overpotential. Fuel cells utilizing this novel anode material exhibited excellent performance, outlining a promising approach for the development of next-generation high-energy battery systems.

 

Reference

Title of original paper: Novel Lithiophilic Silver Selenide Nanocrystals within Porous Carbon Microsphere: Tailoring Pore Structures for Enhanced Lithium Metal Battery Anodes

Journal: ACS NANO

DOI: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsnano.4c14290

 

About the authors

Prof. Dong-Hee Lim: Department of Environmental Engineering, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Chungbuk 28644, Republic of Korea

Prof. Gi Dae Park: Department of Advanced Materials Engineering, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Chungbuk 28644, Republic of Korea