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Park et al. Energy Mater 2023;3:300005 Energy Materials
DOI: 10.20517/energymater.2022.65

Mini Review Open Access

Ionic conductivity and mechanical properties of the

solid electrolyte interphase in lithium metal batteries

1,2
1
1,
1
*
2,*
1
Seongsoo Park , Rashma Chaudhary , Sang A Han , Hamzeh Qutaish , Janghyuk Moon , Min-Sik Park ,
Jung Ho Kim 1, *
1
Institute for Superconducting and Electronic Materials, Australian Institute for Innovative Materials, University of Wollongong,
Squires Way, North Wollongong, NSW 2500, Australia.
2
School of Energy Systems Engineering, Chung-Ang University, 84 Heukseok-ro, Dongjak-gu, Seoul 06974, Korea.
*Correspondence to: Prof. Jung Ho Kim, Institute for Superconducting and Electronic Materials, Australian Institute for Innovative
Materials, University of Wollongong, Squires Way, North Wollongong, NSW 2500, Australia. E-mail: jhk@uow.edu.au;
Prof. Min-Sik Park, Institute for Superconducting and Electronic Materials, Australian Institute for Innovative Materials,
University of Wollongong, Squires Way, North Wollongong, NSW 2500, Australia. E-mail: mspark@khu.ac.kr; Prof. Janghyuk
Moon, School of Energy Systems Engineering, Chung-Ang University, 84 Heukseok-ro, Dongjak-gu, Seoul 06974, Korea. E-mail:
jhmoon84@cau.ac.kr
How to cite this article: Park S, Chaudhary R, Han SA, Qutaish H, Moon J, Park MS, Kim JH. Ionic conductivity and mechanical
properties of the solid electrolyte interphase in lithium metal batteries. Energy Mater 2023;3:300005.
https://dx.doi.org/10.20517/energymater.2022.65
Received: 23 Oct 2022 First Decision: 16 Nov 2022 Revised: 6 Dec 2022 Accepted: 4 Jan 2023 Published: 8 Feb 2023

Academic Editors: Yuping Wu, Jiazhao Wang Copy Editor: Fangling Lan Production Editor: Fangling Lan

Abstract
With the fullness of time, metallic lithium (Li) as an anode could become highly promising for high-energy-density
batteries. Theoretically, using Li metal as the negative electrode can result in higher theoretical capacity and lower
oxidation voltage and density than in current commercially available batteries. During the charge/discharge
process, however, metallic Li shows unavoidable drawbacks, such as dendritic growth, causing capacity
degradation and a solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer derived from the side reactions between the Li metal
anode and the electrolyte, resulting in depletion of the electrolyte. The formation of a suitable SEI is crucial to avoid
the side reactions at the interface by circumventing direct contact. Unavoidable dendritic growth at the Li metal
anode can be controlled by its ionic conductivity. Furthermore, the SEI is also required as a mechanical
reinforcement for withstanding the volume change and suppressing dendritic growth in the Li metal anode. A
limiting factor due to complex SEI formation must be considered from the perspectives of chemical and mechanical
properties. To further enhance the cycling performance of Li metal batteries, an in-depth understanding of the SEI
needs to be achieved to clarify these issues. In this mini review, we focus on the SEI, which consists of various
deposited components, and discuss its ionic conductivity and mechanical strength for applications in electric
vehicles.

© The Author(s) 2023. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
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