Lithium dendrite suppression by facile interfacial barium engineering for stable 5 V-class lithium metal batteries with carbonate-based electrolyte

• An in-situ surface barium engineering method is proposed to suppress lithium dendrite growth. • The growth behaviors of lithium are investigated after Ba-modification. • Diffusion barriers of lithium on the Ba-modified surface are probed by first principle calculation . • Ba engineered lithium metal anode enables 5 V-class lithium metal batteries . Lithium metal is well-known as the most promising anode material for lithium batteries due to its high capacity and lowest working potential. However, the inevitable dendrite growth of lithium is the key issue that restricts the commercialization of the lithium metal batteries (LMBs). Here, a facile in-situ surface barium engineering method is proposed to suppress the dendrite growth of lithium at ambient temperature. By first principle calculation, it is found that the diffusion barrier of lithium atom is significantly reduced by interfacial Ba-Li alloy. The experiments prove that the lithium dendrite is suppressed in commercial carbonate electrolyte and a smooth surface morphology is obtained even at a high area density of 4 mAh cm −2 . A high energy 5 V-class lithium metal full battery is assembled and tested. Results reveal that 5 V-class lithium metal batteries with Ba engineered lithium metal anode show stable cycling performance and high rate capacity, indicating that the interfacial Ba-Li alloy can act as effective protection strategy to suppress the lithium dendrite. The results may be useful for the developing of dendrite-free lithium metal anode and other metal anodes.