CriticalUnit t1_is0tx01 wrote on October 12, 2022 at 2:09 PM

>To overcome this issue, the research team succeeded in developing an anode-free battery in a commonly-used carbonate-based liquid electrolyte by adding an ion conductive substrate. The substrate not only forms an anode protective layer but also helps minimize the bulk expansion of the anode.

So there IS an anode, just not the typical kind?

There is just a bare anode current collector without anode materials? But the substrate protects it?

A-flat_Ketone t1_is10dt8 wrote on October 12, 2022 at 2:54 PM

"There is just a bare anode current collector without anode materials?"

Correct, anode free cells refer to the in-situ formation of the anode material on charge derived solely from the lithium intercalated into whatever cathode they have chosen for this particular cell. Where the anode should be prior to charging is just a current collector which has perhaps undergone some surface modification to encourage good formation of the anode material (probably lithium metal). This strategy is a means of increasing the gravimetric capacity of the cell. When you form a lithium metal anode in situ like this, you necessarily do not have excess lithium metal that is basically just sitting in the cell doing nothing but weighing it down.