This technology forms a nanoporous nanocellulose coating layer on a current collector substrate using the Non-solvent Induced Phase Separation (NIPS) method to induce uniform lithium electrodeposition and enhance lithium-ion conductivity and interfacial stability.
Conventional lithium metal anodes have faced issues with dendrite growth, low reversibility, and volume expansion. In particular, anode-free systems have been limited by rapid capacity degradation due to low plating/stripping efficiency during the initial lithium nucleation stage.
This technology introduces a thin-film coating layer (5 μm or less) containing TEMPO-oxidized nanocellulose and functional groups with counter-cations such as Li+ onto the current collector. A porous structure is created using the NIPS method with a non-solvent to improve electrolyte wettability. Enhanced interfacial stability with lithium suppresses dendrite growth. It can be applied to anode-free lithium metal batteries—which use only a copper current collector without anode active materials—and to smartphone or EV batteries where volumetric energy density is critical, offering the advantage of reducing initial lithium loss while utilizing eco-friendly bio-materials.
WO2025-105830A1
