The tendency of metals to form uncontrolled dendritic morphologies during electrodeposition hinders the development of safe and reliable metal batteries. Multiphase nanostructured electrolytes can suppress dendritic growth if the mechanical modulus of the electrolyte is high relative to that of the metal or if the conducting channels are confined to nanoscale dimensions. Direct visualization and analysis of electrodeposition within polymeric nanostructures elucidates the structure–property relationships and mechanisms underlying the suppression of dendrite growth. Here, we fabricate precisely structured multiphase films composed of nanochannels of a polymeric electrolyte in a background of nonconductive polymer on top of coplanar electrodes. The devices enable imaging and analysis of electrodeposition behavior as a function of channel width by scanning electron microscopy. We find that electrodeposition is confined to individual conductive channels and that radial propagation of the dendritic morphology is suppressed in channels for which the width is smaller than the characteristic dendritic nucleation size.

中文翻译：

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通过限制纳米结构电解质中的空间尺寸来稳定树枝状电沉积

金属在电沉积过程中形成不受控制的树突形态的趋势阻碍了安全可靠的金属电池的发展。如果电解质的机械模量相对于金属的机械模量高，或者如果导电通道被限制在纳米级尺寸，则多相纳米结构的电解质可以抑制树枝状晶体的生长。对聚合物纳米结构内电沉积的直接可视化和分析，阐明了结构与性质之间的关系以及抑制枝晶生长的机制。在这里，我们在共面电极顶部的非导电聚合物背景中制造了由聚合物电解质的纳米通道组成的精确结构化的多相膜。该设备可以通过扫描电子显微镜对作为通道宽度函数的电沉积行为进行成像和分析。我们发现电沉积仅限于单个导电通道，并且在宽度小于特征树突形核尺寸的通道中，树突形态的径向传播受到抑制。