Turning Air Exposure into an Advantage for Lithium Metal Anodes
Abstract
Lithium metal anodes (LMAs) are central to next-generation high-energy batteries, but extreme air sensitivity hinders their commercialization. Expanding the allowable air-exposure window would let LMAs use existing Li-ion battery manufacturing infrastructure. Here we show that a two-step protocol of prolonged dry pretreatment followed by brief controlled air exposure engineers a mechanically robust surface reaction layer (SRL) on Li metal. Insufficient pretreatment yields a poorly adherent SRL that delaminates on air exposure, whereas optimal pretreatment yields a composite oxide/hydroxide/carbonate SRL that accommodates growth-induced compressive stress (20–290 MPa) by wrinkling rather than delaminating. This wrinkled, adherent SRL promotes uniform Li deposition and improved electrochemical stability: full cells built with the optimally processed anode maintain stable cycling performance up to 1,300 cycles with higher sustained capacity than cells using as-received Li. These findings establish the chemo-mechanical principles governing SRL evolution during air exposure and provide practical guidelines for handling LMAs under realistic atmospheric conditions.
Related
- Symmetric dual-interphase design enables stable lithium-metal anodes for high rate ultrahigh-nickel all-solid-state batteries
- Tin‐Modified MXene Composite Electrodes as Lithiophilic Hosts for Stable Lithium Metal Anodes
- Physical Metallurgy of Lithium and Sodium and its Role in Electrochemical Stability of Solid-State Battery Anodes
- Electrophoretic Deposition of Additive-Free Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework-67-Derived Cobalt Oxide Anodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries
- Solvation-mediated electrostatic shielding of Li anodes by Na+ for durable lithium–oxygen batteries
BibTeX
@misc{lee2026turning,
title = {{Turning Air Exposure into an Advantage for Lithium Metal Anodes}},
author = {Ga Yeon Lee and Dongeun Gu and Jeong Ho Choi and Sung Hyo Cho and Sun Jae Kim and Seunghyeon Kwon and Hee Jin Bak and Heeyeong An and Suk Jun Kim},
howpublished = {ChemRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.26434/chemrxiv.15008090/v1},
url = {https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15008090/v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Turning Air Exposure into an Advantage for Lithium Metal Anodes
AU - Ga Yeon Lee
AU - Dongeun Gu
AU - Jeong Ho Choi
AU - Sung Hyo Cho
AU - Sun Jae Kim
AU - Seunghyeon Kwon
AU - Hee Jin Bak
AU - Heeyeong An
AU - Suk Jun Kim
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/31
PB - ChemRxiv
DO - 10.26434/chemrxiv.15008090/v1
UR - https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15008090/v1
AB - Lithium metal anodes (LMAs) are central to next-generation high-energy batteries, but extreme air sensitivity hinders their commercialization. Expanding the allowable air-exposure window would let LMAs use existing Li-ion battery manufacturing infrastructure. Here we show that a two-step protocol of prolonged dry pretreatment followed by brief controlled air exposure engineers a mechanically robust surface reaction layer (SRL) on Li metal. Insufficient pretreatment yields a poorly adherent SRL that delaminates on air exposure, whereas optimal pretreatment yields a composite oxide/hydroxide/carbonate SRL that accommodates growth-induced compressive stress (20–290 MPa) by wrinkling rather than delaminating. This wrinkled, adherent SRL promotes uniform Li deposition and improved electrochemical stability: full cells built with the optimally processed anode maintain stable cycling performance up to 1,300 cycles with higher sustained capacity than cells using as-received Li. These findings establish the chemo-mechanical principles governing SRL evolution during air exposure and provide practical guidelines for handling LMAs under realistic atmospheric conditions.
ER -