Advantages of ZrO2 Composite Protection Coating on Lithium Metal Anode in Lithium Metal Battery

Lithium metal anode was regarded as holy grail due to its high theoretical capacity (3860 mAh /g) and lowest electrochemical potentials (–3.04 V vs SHE). However, the dendrite formation induces safety hazard and decomposition of liquid electrolyte, resulting in low Coulombic efficiency and short cycle life. Recently, many studies have studied approaches to suppress dendrite growth by stable SEI layer, optimization of solvents, salts, electrolyte additives, and protection layer. The protection layer was well known method to prevent dendrite growth and improve cycle stability. Here we fabricate composite protection coating on lithium metal anode to prevent dendrite formation and prevent salt dissociation. This protection layer has high ionic conductivity and superior mechanical properties. The protection layer successfully suppresses dendrite formation and improves coulombic efficiency. In this study we show potential of achieving highly safe lithium metal anode.