Mechanisms of Dendrite Growth in Lithium Metal Batteries

Lithium dendrite growth in batteries not only causes capacity fading and a limited lifetime, it also causes severe safety concerns. Although known for 50 years, none of the presented remedies could sustainably tackle both the safety issue as well as the low cycling performance. Moreover, the underlying mechanisms are still not clear. In this work in situ light microscopy with unmatched spatial resolution and SEM were performed to gain insights into the mechanisms of dendritic deposition.