Natural “relief” for lithium dendrites: Tailoring protein configurations for long-life lithium metal anodes
Natural “relief” for lithium dendrites: Tailoring protein configurations for long-life lithium metal anodes
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DOI：
10.1016/j.ensm.2021.07.010
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发表时间：
2021-11
影响因子：
20.4
通讯作者：
Xuewei Fu;Ryan E Odstrcil;Munan Qiu;Jin Liu;W. Zhong
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Xuewei Fu;Ryan E Odstrcil;Munan Qiu;Jin Liu;W. Zhong
由于锂（Li）枝晶的生长无法控制，可充电锂金属电池（LMB）面临着安全性和寿命短的问题。富含不同极性基团的天然生物分子可能具有高亲锂性，显示出抑制枝晶生长的潜力。然而，除了化学成分之外，它们来自自然界的结构多样性对功能也产生了显着的影响，这一点尚未得到研究。在这里，通过实验和分子模拟，我们发现了锂枝晶的天然“救济”——玉米醇溶蛋白，并通过调整其配置成功地增强了其枝晶抑制能力，以实现长寿命的锂阳极。 “强浮雕构型”（SRC-玉米醇溶蛋白）是通过使用强大的变性剂彻底展开和打开紧凑的蛋白质结构而产生的。与较少未折叠的蛋白质相比，用 SRC-Zein 改性隔膜可产生优异的电解质润湿性、更高的离子电导率 (2.0 mS/cm) 和更高的 Li+ 转移数 (0.68)。这些重要的特性在均匀化离子沉积和抑制锂枝晶的成核/生长方面发挥着协同作用。因此，对称 Li/Li 电池在 2 mA/cm2 电流下表现出超过 1400 小时的卓越循环稳定性。此外，采用 SRC-Zein 改性隔膜的半电池显示出容量、循环稳定性和倍率性能的显着增强。
Rechargeable lithium metal batteries (LMBs) are faced with concerns of safety and short lifespan because of the uncontrollable growth of lithium (Li) dendrites. Natural biomolecules enriched with diverse polar groups are likely to have high lithiophilicity, showing the potential to suppress the dendrite growth. However, besides the chemical compositions, their structural diversities from nature induce notable impacts on the functions, which has not been studied yet. Here, through experiments and molecular simulations, we discover a natural “relief” for Li dendrites, zein protein, and successfully strengthen its dendrite-suppressing ability by tailoring its configurations to achieve long-life Li anodes. The “strong relief configuration” (SRC-Zein) is generated via drastically unfolding and opening the compact protein structure using a powerful denaturant. Modifying the separator by SRC-Zein results in excellent electrolyte wettability, higher ionic conductivity (2.0 mS/cm), and higher Li+transference number (0.68), compared with the less unfolded protein. These important properties play the synergistical role in homogenizing the ion deposition and inhibiting the nucleation/growth of Li dendrites. As a result, the symmetrical Li/Li cell exhibits exceptional cycling stability for more than 1400 h at 2 mA/cm2. Furthermore, the half-cell with the SRC-Zein modified separator shows significant enhancement in capacity, cycle stability, and rate performance.