Scientists pinpoint cause of harmful dendrites and whiskers in lithium batteries
Scientists have uncovered a root cause of the growth of needle-like structures—known as dendrites and whiskers—that plague lithium batteries, sometimes causing a short circuit, failure, or even a fire.
The team, led by Chongmin Wang at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, has shown that the presence of certain compounds in the electrolyte—the liquid material that makes a battery’s critical chemistry possible—prompts the growth of dendrites and whiskers. The team hopes the discovery will lead to new ways to prevent their growth by manipulating the battery’s ingredients. The results were published online Oct. 14 in Nature Nanotechnology.
Note: this is lithium metal batteries, not lithium ion batteries.
Full story at -
