Pooja wins the CBE Symposium picture competition
The main bottleneck in the commercialization of lithium and sodium metal rechargeable batteries is the formation of metallic dendrites. Dendrites are ramified structures formed as a result of uneven plating of metal. Dendrites formed during batteries recharge can electrically bridge the anode and cathode within a battery, resulting in a short-circuit. This poses a risk of explosion as these batteries employ flammable, organic solvent-based electrolytes. The image shows dendritic short-circuit during the electrodeposition of copper using 0.12M CuCl2 in DMSO as electrolyte.