Prospects of single atom catalysts for dendrite-free alkali metal batteries

Huihua Li; Jian Wang; Jing Zhang; Lujie Jia; Hongxu Qu; Qinghua Guan; Huang Zhang; Hongzhen Lin

doi:10.1039/D4GC02590C

Prospects of single atom catalysts for dendrite-free alkali metal batteries

Huihua Li,^a Jian Wang,

*^bce Jing Zhang,^d Lujie Jia,^b Hongxu Qu,^a Qinghua Guan,^b Huang Zhang

*^a and Hongzhen Lin*^b

Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

^a School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Harbin University of Science and Technology, Harbin 150080, P. R. China
E-mail: zhang.huang@hrbust.edu.cn

^b i-Lab, Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou 215123, China
E-mail: hzlin2010@sinano.ac.cn

^c Helmholtz Institute Ulm (HIU), Ulm 89081, Germany
E-mail: jian.wang@kit.edu

^d School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xi'an University of Technology, Xi'an 710048, China

^e Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe D-76021, Germany

Abstract

High-energy-density alkali metal batteries (AMBs) offer a potentially promising and sustainable option for energy storage. However, notorious dendrite growth and uncontrollable plating behaviors resulting from random spatial ion/atom distribution and related high barriers restrict the development of AMBs. Different from interphase engineering and architecture construction, the emerging catalysis modulation is proposed to overcome above-related barriers, achieving uniform alkali metal nucleation and atom diffusion. Among the various catalysts, single atom catalysts (SACs) exhibit an atomic exposure of nearly 100%, displaying high atomic catalytic capability and efficiency. Although it is still at an early stage, the adoption of SACs for modulating alkali metal ion/atom desolvation or diffusion has shown great promise in both fundamental research and practical applications. In this review, the fabrications and characterizations of SACs are briefly summarized, and the principal mechanisms of SAC-incorporated alkali metal anode systems are highlighted in terms of electrochemical analysis, microscopic/spectroscopic characterizations, and theoretical simulations. In addition, sustainable paths for future critical battery chemistry and material selections based on SACs are highlighted. The associated opportunities and challenges are further prospected to achieve a high-performance alkali metal anode.

This article is part of the themed collection: 2024 Green Chemistry Reviews

Green Chemistry

Prospects of single atom catalysts for dendrite-free alkali metal batteries

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