An anode-free battery (AFB) is one that is manufactured without an anode. Instead, it creates a metal anode the first time it is charged. The anode is formed from charge carriers supplied by the cathode.
What is an anode-free battery design?
It opted for an anode-free battery design, which removes the anode and stores the ions on electrochemical deposition of alkali metal directly on the current collector. Eliminating the anode enables reduced weight and volume, higher cell voltage, lower cell cost, and increased energy density, but brings its own challenges.
Should a battery be anode-free?
Eliminating the anode enables reduced weight and volume, higher cell voltage, lower cell cost, and increased energy density, but brings its own challenges. “In any anode-free battery there needs to be good contact between the electrolyte and the current collector,” Deysher said.
When assembled, PNNL's anode-free rechargeable battery comprises an anode current collector and a cathode with a separator in between, as well as an electrolyte consisting of a salt or salt mixture dissolved in a solvent, solvent mixture, and/or polymer. The salt or salt mixture can be made up of various types of lithium salts.
Does a lithium battery have an anode?
So while these architectures may not have a lithium metal anode during the first charge, the current collector acts as an anode. For both of these reasons, re-adopting terms such as “Li-free batteries”, “low N/P lithium metal batteries”, and “anode-less” is preferable to using the “anode-free” terminology.
What is an anode-free device?
Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) developed an anode-free device that uses a salt/salt electrolyte mixture dissolved in a solvent, solvent mixture, and/or polymer. The salt can be of various types of lithium salts.
To improve the energy storage capacity, lithium (Li) metal is regarded as an ideal anode since it is a very light metal (0.534 g cm −3) with an ultrahigh specific capacity (3862 mAh g −1) and also has the most negative standard electrochemical potential (−3.040 V vs. the standard hydrogen electrode) among the possible anode materials.