Dendrite-suppressing separator with high thermal stability by rod-like ZnO coating for lithium batteries

The application of lithium (Li) metal as an anodic electrode for potential use in Li batteries has of late attracted much attention. This is because of its higher theoretical energy capacity (3860 mAh g−1) and negative potential (−3.04 V vs. standard hydrogen electrode (SHE)). However, Li metal anode possesses its own problem and chief being the formation of Li dendrites. Acuminate Li dendrites can pierce through the polyolefin separator causing the battery to short and this can potentially lead to fire. To buttress this problem, we synthesized and applied rod-like zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles as a coating material on separators for suppressed dendrite formation in Li metal batteries. The cells with the coated separator showed improved electrochemical performance with an 83.4% capacity retention compared to the pristine separator with 65.5% after 100 cycles. This was due to suppressed dendrite formation. These results show that rod-like ZnO nanoparticle is a potential candidate for use as a coating material for separators in Li metal batteries.