Toward practical anode-free lithium batteries through planar deposition and interphase engineering

The pursuit of higher energy density in rechargeable batteries has long motivated the exploration of lithium metal as an anode [1,2] .Among the most radical configurations, anode-free lithium metal batteries (AFLMBs) stand out for their potential to maximize both gravimetric and volumetric energy density while simplifying manufacturing [3,4] .However, the absence of excess lithium and host materials introduces severe interfacial instability, leading to poor cycling performance and limiting their practical relevance.In this context, the recent work by Liu et al. represents a notable advance [5] .The authors report a 500 Wh kg -1 -class anode-free pouch cell with extended cycle life, enabled by a carefully designed "crossover-coupled" electrolyte.At the core of this strategy lies a rethinking of interphase formation: rather than being a local, electrode-specific process, the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) is shown to emerge from coupled chemical reactions involving species generated at both electrodes.