Abstract
Metal anodes exhibit great potential in delivering high capacity and energy density to address modern energy demands. However, the commercialization of these advanced batteries is hindered by metal anode-related challenges including the fast-decaying performance and dendrite-induced safety risks. Though frequently overlooked in cell design, separators can play a critical role in metal anode reactions by actively interacting with both electrolytes and electrodes. This review explores the design principles for separators to achieve safe and stable metal batteries. By analyzing the potential failure modes in each step during the metal electrodeposition process, the key factors of separators that determine the stability of the metal cycling process are discussed. Additionally, the current methods used to evaluate separator effectiveness in suppressing dendrite formation are highlighted and critically examined for their limitations. By enhancing the understanding of separator functionality, this review offers insights into optimizing separator designs, paving the way for the development of safe and efficient metal batteries. © 2025 Wiley-VCH GmbH.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 2425517 |
| Journal | Advanced Functional Materials |
| Volume | 35 |
| Issue number | 30 |
| Online published | 25 Feb 2025 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 24 Jul 2025 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Funding
This work was financially supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2023YFB3809500), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 22279011 and U23A20555), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. 2024JAIS \u2010ZX003).
Research Keywords
- dendrite suppression
- electrodeposition
- metal anodes
- rechargeable metal batteries
- separators