@article{Zhang2026, 
author = {Shuoqing Zhang and Haotian Zhu and Junyi Hua and Jinze Wang and Long Li and Long Chen and Ruhong Li and Lixin Chen and Xiulin Fan and Tao Deng},
title = {Dielectric-mediated interfacial ion transport enabling stable lithium metal batteries},
year = {2026},
journal = {Carbon Future},
volume = {3},
number = {1},
pages = {9200068},
keywords = {lithium metal anode, dielectric regulation, ion transport, electrolyte engineering, lithium battery},
url = {https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.26599/CF.2026.9200068},
doi = {10.26599/CF.2026.9200068},
abstract = {Unregulated interfacial electric fields critically undermine the stability of lithium-metal batteries (LMBs) by driving heterogeneous Li+ flux and dendritic deposition. Here, we report a dielectric-mediated electrolyte design that actively modulates the local electric field to enable uniform Li+ transport and Li0 deposition. By integrating fluorinated diluents with varying dielectric constants into localized high-concentration electrolytes (LHCE), a stable dielectric environment was constructed at the Li–electrolyte interface. Specifically, the high-dielectric diluent 1,1,1,3,3-pentafluorobutane facilitates electrolyte to realize uniform and flat lithium deposition under high current density of 3 mA·cm−2 by suppressing the electrostatic tip effect that typically triggers dendrite formation. The optimized electrolyte achieves high Coulombic efficiency (> 99.5%), negligible growth in interfacial impedance, and stable cycling in thin Li-based cells. Moreover, Li (30 μm)||LiCoO2 (3.6 mAh·cm−2) full cells retain 80% of their initial capacity after 250 cycles within a voltage window of 3–4.5 V, outperforming the reference cells (< 50 cycles) using high-concentration electrolyte and LHCE with low-dielectric-constant diluent. The strategy of dielectric-mediated interface homogenizes electric field distribution and stabilizes ion transport beyond conventional interphase-focused approaches. This work establishes dielectric modulation as a viable paradigm for interfacial regulation, advancing the design of high-energy-density LMBs.}
}