Non‐Uniform Distribution of Current in Plane of Large‐Area Lithium Electrodes

Abstract This work asserts that increasing the planar area of a lithium (Li) electrode is a challenge in view of ensuring a uniform plating and stripping and spatial uniformity for the state‐of‐health over the surface of lithium. A significant in‐plane heterogeneity is observed for the symmetric Li cells with the stack area in the range of 24 to 96 cm 2 . The cycling of the large‐area lithium electrodes is performed inside a dedicated home‐made electrochemical setup capable of incorporating electrodes of different sizes. The cycling data and post‐mortem analysis reveal a clear non‐uniformity in the distribution of current and aging for the lithium electrodes having a size larger than the coin‐cell and relevant to the commercial applications. It is shown that the inhomogeneous aging manifests mainly in the formation of dead Li film with a spatial variation in thickness and impedance over the surface of the Li electrode.