Because some nanomaterials limit the usefulness and safety of power batteries, researchers are designing methods to accurately assess the mechanical properties of dendritic crystals in lithium batteries.
During many charge/discharge cycles, many tiny crystals grow naturally on the lithium surface and form a branching tree-like structure.Because these dendritic crystals grow uncontrollably during lithium-metal battery charging, just as tiny wires short-circuit and kill the battery, great efforts are made to prevent or at least reduce this unnecessary growth.
In principle, one possible solution is to suppress dendrites by physically pressing something on the lithium metal.Although typical lithium-ion batteries have liquid electrolytes that cannot be pressurized back, batteries using solid electrolytes can, at least in theory, apply enough mechanical pressure to block the dendrites.In practice, however, the dendrites will still grow.
Despite this added pressure, it is not clear why the dendrites are still growing, and researchers at Caltech are working on just that.A team led by Julia Greer (Ruben F. and Donna Mettler, professors of materials science, mechanics and medical engineering, and the Fletcher Jones Foundation director of the Kavli Nanoscale Science Institute) is studying the mechanical properties of lithium at the nanoscale.The purpose is to analyze and characterize the differences in these characteristics.But the trouble is that these dendritic crystals can grow in different sizes and shapes even within the same unit
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