Re: On the upside. A new way to make Lithium nano wire in various chemistries.
... a treatment of the electrode surface to prevent dendrite formation being energetically favourable (which is the usual root cause of this).
This is indeed the root cause of the problem: the bulk-phase lithium is more thermodynamically stable than Li nanoparticles, which have higher surface area. In order to stabilize the nanoparticles, you need to reduce the surface energy by adjusting the electrolyte composition. But, you can't just go all the way and make the surface free-energy negative - this would cause the nanoparticles to dissolve altogether, which is not that you want. So, you can't completely eliminate dendrite formation, but you may be able to slow it down to the point where the lifetime of the cell is determined by other factors.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
