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Synthesis of monocrystalline lithium for high-critical-current-density solid-state batteries

Nature Synthesis volume 4, pages 552–561 (2025)Cite this article

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Abstract

Lithium metal is the Holy Grail anode material for high-energy-density batteries. Unfortunately, applications of Li metal anodes are restricted by their inherent propensity to form dendrites at practical current densities. Here we present an approach that directly converts commercial polycrystalline Li (poly-Li) into various monocrystalline Li metal anodes with single facets via a recrystallization technique. By elucidating the diffusive kinetic and mechanical characteristics of different Li facets, we reveal that monocrystalline Li(110) exhibits the lowest diffusion barrier of 0.02 eV, an order of magnitude lower than poly-Li’s 0.2 eV, and a 71% reduction in Young’s modulus from 9.42 GPa to 2.71 GPa. The critical current density can be raised by an order of magnitude in solid-state batteries using monocrystalline Li(110), and the cycling stability of Li metal batteries is extended fivefold. We envision that the manipulation of the crystal plane will effectively tackle the pivotal challenges in achieving high-energy-density batteries.

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Fig. 1: Monocrystalline Li with different crystallographic facets.
Fig. 2: Kinetic characterization of monocrystalline Li with different crystallographic facets.
Fig. 3: Electrochemical stability of monocrystalline Li(110) metal anode in liquid electrolytes.
Fig. 4: Mechanical property of monocrystalline Li with different crystallographic facets.
Fig. 5: Electrochemical performance of monocrystalline Li(110) metal anode with solid-state electrolytes.

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The data supporting the findings of this study are available within the Article and its Supplementary Information.

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Acknowledgements

This work was mainly supported by National Key Research and Development Program of China (no. 2021YFB2500100 to J.Luo). This work was also supported by the Clean Vehicles, US–China Clean Energy Research Centre (CERC-CVC2) under US DOE EERE Vehicle Technologies Office. Argonne National Laboratory is operated for DOE Office of Science by UChicago Argonne, LLC, under contract number DE-AC02-06CH11357.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Hao Chen, Yumeng Zhao.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, State Key Lab of Metal Matrix Composites, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China

    Hao Chen & Jiayan Luo

  2. School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China

    Yumeng Zhao, Xinyue Zhang & Aoxuan Wang

  3. School of Chemical Engineering and Materials, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin, China

    Xinyue Zhang

  4. Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, China

    Rui Li & Bohua Wen

  5. Cell Product Department, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd, Ningde, China

    Haiming Zhang & Kai Wu

  6. Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL, USA

    Junxiang Liu, Tongchao Liu & Khalil Amine

  7. CAS Key Laboratory of Green Process and Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Lan Zhang

  8. Key Laboratory of Beam Technology of Ministry of Education, School of Physics and Astronomy, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China

    Qingsong Hua

  9. Zhangjiang Institute for Advanced Study, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China

    Jiayan Luo

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Contributions

J. Luo conceived the experiments and wrote the original draft. H.C., Y.Z. and X.Z. synthesized and characterized the Li anodes. R.L. and B.W. contributed to the AFM study. H.Z. and K.W. helped with the cell design and testing. L.Z. performed the COMSOL simulation. J. Liu, Q.H., T.L. and K.A. revised the manuscript. All authors contributed to the data analysis. X.Z., A.W., T.L., K.W. and J. Luo supervised the work.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Xinyue Zhang, Aoxuan Wang, Tongchao Liu, Kai Wu or Jiayan Luo.

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Nature Synthesis thanks the anonymous reviewers for their contribution to the peer review of this work. Primary Handling Editor: Peter Seavill, in collaboration with the Nature Synthesis team. Source data are provided with this paper.

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Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Figs. 1–43, Notes 1–4 and Tables 1–6.

Source data

Source Data Fig. 1

Source data for DSC measurement and XRD pattern.

Source Data Fig. 2

Source data for CCD curves.

Source Data Fig. 3

Source data for electronic conductivity, reversible capacity, capacity usage, cycling performance and rate performance.

Source Data Fig. 4

Source data for Young’s modulus.

Source Data Fig. 5

Source data for CCD based on solid-state electrolytes, CCD comparison and cycling performance of solid-state cells.

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Chen, H., Zhao, Y., Zhang, X. et al. Synthesis of monocrystalline lithium for high-critical-current-density solid-state batteries. Nat. Synth 4, 552–561 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44160-024-00712-4

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