Composite number

Solid-state

Physics

Endocrinology

Carbon fibers

Physical chemistry

Composite material

Power (physics)

Archaeology

Electrode

Chemistry

Metallurgy

Materials science

Lithium (medication)

Lithium metal

Cycling

Metal

Quantum mechanics

Medicine

Energy storage

Anode

History

Nature Energy

An all-solid-state battery with a lithium metal anode is a strong candidate for surpassing conventional lithium-ion battery capabilities. However, undesirable Li dendrite growth and low Coulombic efficiency impede their practical application. Here we report that a high-performance all-solid-state lithium metal battery with a sulfide electrolyte is enabled by a Ag–C composite anode with no excess Li. We show that the thin Ag–C layer can effectively regulate Li deposition, which leads to a genuinely long electrochemical cyclability. In our full-cell demonstrations, we employed a high-Ni layered oxide cathode with a high specific capacity (&gt;210 mAh g−1) and high areal capacity (&gt;6.8 mAh cm−2) and an argyrodite-type sulfide electrolyte. A warm isostatic pressing technique was also introduced to improve the contact between the electrode and the electrolyte. A prototype pouch cell (0.6 Ah) thus prepared exhibited a high energy density (&gt;900 Wh l−1), stable Coulombic efficiency over 99.8% and long cycle life (1,000 times). Solid-state Li metal batteries represent one of the most promising rechargeable battery technologies. Here the authors report an exceptional high-performance prototype solid-state pouch cell made of a sulfide electrolyte, a high-Ni layered oxide cathode and, in particular, a silver–carbon composite anode with no excess Li.

High-energy long-cycling all-solid-state lithium metal batteries enabled by silver–carbon composite anodes