AUTHOR=Frenck Louise , Sethi Gurmukh K. , Maslyn Jacqueline A. , Balsara Nitash P. TITLE=Factors That Control the Formation of Dendrites and Other Morphologies on Lithium Metal Anodes JOURNAL=Frontiers in Energy Research VOLUME=7 YEAR=2019 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/energy-research/articles/10.3389/fenrg.2019.00115 DOI=10.3389/fenrg.2019.00115 ISSN=2296-598X ABSTRACT=

Lithium metal is a promising anode material for next-generation rechargeable batteries, but non-uniform electrodeposition of lithium is a significant barrier. These non-uniform deposits are often referred to as lithium “dendrites,” although their morphologies can vary. We have surveyed the literature on lithium electrodeposition through three classes of electrolytes: liquids, polymers and inorganic solids. We find that the non-uniform deposits can be grouped into six classes: whiskers, moss, dendrites, globules, trees, and cracks. These deposits were obtained in a variety of cell geometries using both unidirectional deposition and cell cycling. The main result of the study is a figure where the morphology of electrodeposited lithium is plotted as a function of two variables: shear modulus of the electrolyte and current density normalized by the limiting current density. We show that specific morphologies are confined to contiguous regions on this two-dimensional plot.