The thermodynamically instable nature of lithium metal in liquid electrolytes significantly delays the implementation of the high-energy rechargeable lithium battery technology in electrical vehicles. Although many approaches have been proposed to rescue Li metal anodes, most of the work is performed in small-scale coin cells and tested in the conditions drastically different from the reality. A full knowledge of Li metal activities at the cell level is lacking but extremely critical for the success of developing next-generation rechargeable Li metal batteries.

This webinar will start with discussing the root causes of forming Li metal dendrite in liquid batteries from an electrochemistry point of view and then step into understanding the implications of Li metal dendrites in realistic high-energy pouch cells. The recent progress of Battery500 Consortium will be discussed to highlight the importance of applying electrochemistry principles to understand, identify and address the fundamental challenges in realistic battery technologies.

Dr Jie Xiao is currently a laboratory fellow and group leader of the Battery Materials and System Group at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. She holds a joint position at the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Arkansas. Xiao is an ECS fellow and serves as the ECS Battery Division secretary. She received her PhD in materials chemistry from the State University of New York at Binghamton. Xiao has been leading research on practical applications and the fundamental study of energy-storage materials and systems, spanning from microbatteries for acoustic fish tags to advanced battery technologies for vehicle electrification and grid-energy storage. She has published more than 100 peer-reviewed journal papers, two book chapters, and holds 17 US patents in the energy-storage research area. Xiao has been a top 1% Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researcher since 2017.