What Can be Expected from “Anode-Free” Lithium Metal Batteries?

Abstract

“Anode-free” lithium metal batteries are cells that have no excess lithium metal. They have become a topic of tremendous attention, mostly driven by recent progress and interest in practical batteries with Li metal anodes. These cells are expected to provide improved performance. However, a deeper analysis on the potential manufacturing costs have not been weighed against the cell attributes. Specifically, the increased energy density and gravimetric energy density of anode-free cells versus their reduced cycle life when compared with standard lithium-ion batteries (LIB). In this perspective, a multifaceted comparison between anode-free batteries with current LIB and future Li metal-based batteries is shown. Furthermore, not only an overview of the research strategies on the anode-free design is provided but also attempted to estimate the potential advantages weighed in different scenarios considering cost, performance, processing, and technology maturity.