At a Glance
- Researchers from KAIST and LG Energy Solution have created a lithium-metal battery that enables an 800 km EV range and 12-minute fast charging.
- The key innovation overcomes the long-standing problem of dendrites, which are harmful crystal structures that reduce battery lifespan and cause safety issues.
- A new “cohesion-inhibiting” liquid electrolyte uses special anions that weakly attract lithium ions, ensuring they deposit smoothly on the anode instead of forming dendrites.
- Test batteries demonstrated stable performance over 350 cycles at a high 4C charging rate, projecting a high energy density of 386 Wh kg-1.
- This breakthrough, published in Nature Energy, represents a significant step toward commercializing safer, longer-lasting, and faster-charging batteries for next-generation electric vehicles.
A new battery technology developed in South Korea could eliminate electric vehicle range anxiety and drastically reduce charging times. In a study published in Nature Energy, a joint research team from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and LG Energy Solution has engineered a lithium-metal battery capable of charging to 70% in just 12 minutes while offering a potential driving range of 800 km, a significant leap from the roughly 600 km limit of current batteries. This breakthrough addresses a critical safety and longevity issue that has long hindered the adoption of powerful lithium-metal designs.
At the heart of the challenge is the battery’s anode, the negative electrode that stores lithium during charging. Unlike conventional lithium-ion batteries, which use a stable graphite anode, lithium-metal batteries utilize pure lithium metal, which can store significantly more energy. However, during fast charging, the lithium tends to deposit unevenly on the anode’s surface, forming sharp, needle-like structures called dendrites. These dendrites can grow long enough to pierce the barrier separating the electrodes, causing a potentially hazardous internal short circuit that degrades performance and poses a fire risk.
To solve this problem, the research team developed a novel liquid electrolyte, the medium that allows charged particles, or ions, to flow between the battery’s electrodes. Their “cohesion-inhibiting” electrolyte contains specially designed negative ions, known as anions, that have a weak chemical attraction to the positive lithium ions. This weak association prevents the lithium ions from clustering together as they travel to the anode, ensuring they deposit as a smooth, uniform layer instead of forming dangerous dendrites. This mechanism stabilizes the battery even under high-power, 4C charging rates.
The results demonstrate a clear path toward next-generation electric vehicles. Test batteries not only charged from 5–70% state of charge in 12 minutes over 350 cycles but also showed potential for high-energy designs delivering 386 watt-hours per kilogram. “This research has become a key foundation for overcoming the technical challenges of lithium-metal batteries,” said Professor Hee Tak Kim of KAIST in an institutional press release. The successful collaboration between academia and industry partner LG Energy Solution highlights a promising strategy for accelerating the future of sustainable transportation.
References
- Kwon, H., Kim, S., Hyun, J., Lee, H. E., Kim, S. S., Kim, Y., Kim, I. J., Shin, K., Kim, S., Park, C., Kim, H., Shin, D., & Kim, H.-T. (2025). Covariance of interphasic properties and fast chargeability of energy-dense lithium metal batteries. Nature Energy. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-025-01838-1
- The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. (2025, September 4). Lithium-metal batteries can charge in 12 minutes for an 800 km drive. Tech Xplore; The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. https://techxplore.com/news/2025-09-lithium-metal-batteries-minutes-km.html
