title: Lithium Metal Anodes with an Adaptive "Solid-Liquid" Interfacial Protective Layer.
abstract: Lithium metal is an attractive anode for the next generation of high energy density lithium-ion batteries due to its high specific capacity (3,860 mAh g-1) and lowest overall anode potential. However, the key issue is that the static solid electrolyte interphase cannot match the dynamic volume changes of the Li anode, resulting in side reactions, dendrite growth, and poor electrodeposition behavior, which prevent its practical applications. Here, we show that the "solid-liquid" hybrid behavior of a dynamically cross-linked polymer enables its use as an excellent adaptive interfacial layer for Li metal anodes. The dynamic polymer can reversibly switch between its "liquid" and "solid" properties in response to the rate of lithium growth to provide uniform surface coverage and dendrite suppression, respectively, thereby enabling the stable operation of lithium metal electrodes. We believe that this example of engineering an adaptive Li/electrolyte interface brings about a new and promising way to address the intrinsic problems of lithium metal anodes.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-3362-180X
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Allen
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8930-2125
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pei
authors.forename: Hye Ryoung
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Biao
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.forename: Nian
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Dingchang
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Yayuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Chong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Po-Chun
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: Zhenan
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-0972-1715
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Bao
authors.affiliation: Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences , SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, California 94025, United States.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cui