High lithiophilic nitrogen-doped carbon nanotube arrays prepared by in-situ catalyze for lithium metal anode

Lithium metal has a very outstanding theoretical capacity(3860 mAh/g) and is one of the most superior anode materials for high energy density batteries.However,the uncontrollable dendrite growth and the fo rmation of "dead lithium" are the important hidden dangers of short cycle life and low safety.However,the uncontrollable dendrite growth and the fo rmation of dead lithium leads to short cycle life and hidden dange r,which hinder its practical application.Controlling the nucleation and growth process of lithium is an effective strategy to inhibit lithium dendrite.Herein,a simple in situ self-catalytic method is used to construct nitrogen doped carbon nanotube arrays on stainless steel mesh(N-CNT@SS) as a lithium composite anode.The N-doped CNTs provide a great number of N-functional groups,which enhance the lithiophilic of anode and provide a large number of uniform nucleation sites,hence it has excellent structural stability for cycles.The arrays provide neat lithium-ion transport channels to uniform lithiumion flux and inhibits dendrite generation,revealed by the COMSOL multi-physics concentration field simulation.The N-CNT@SS composite anode sustain stable at 98.9% over 300 cycles at 1 mA/cm2.NCNT@SS as the anode is coupled LiFePO_4(LFP) as the cathode construct a full battery,demonstrating excellent cycling stability with a capacity of 152.33 mAh/g and capacity retaining ratio of 95.4% after 100 cycles at 0.5 C.     

A 3D conducting scaffold with in-situ grown lithiophilic Ni_2P nanoarrays for high stability lithium metal anodes

Lithium(Li)metal is the most potential anode material for the next-generation high-energy rechargeable batteries.However,intrinsic surface unevenness and‘hostless’nature of Li metal induces infinite volume effect and uncontrollable dendrite growth.Herein,we design the in-situ grown lithiophilic Ni₂P nanoarrays inside nickel foam(PNF).Uniform Ni₂P nanoarrays coating presents a very low nucleation overpotential,which induces the homogeneous Li deposition in the entire spaces of three-dimensional(3D)metal framework.Specifically,the lithiophilic Ni₂P nanoarrays possess characteristics of electrical conductivity and structural stability,which have almost no expansion and damage during repeating Li plating/stripping.Therefore,they chronically inhibit the growth of Li dendrites.This results in an outstanding Coulombic efficiency(CE)of 98% at 3 mA cm^-2 and an ultra long cycling life over 2000 cycles with a low overpotential.Consequently,the PNF-Li||LiFePO₄ battery maintains a capacity retention of 95.3% with a stable CE of 99.9% over 500 cycles at 2 C.     

锂金属负极亲锂骨架的研究进展

随着电动汽车和便携式电子产品的快速发展, 人们对于高比能二次电池的需求越来越迫切. 锂金属以其极高的理论比容量和极低的电极电势被视为下一代高比能电池理想负极材料之一. 但是, 锂枝晶的生长及体积膨胀等问题限制了金属锂负极的实际应用. 在金属锂负极中引入三维骨架可以有效抑制锂枝晶生长, 缓解体积膨胀. 其中亲锂骨架可以降低锂的形核能垒, 诱导锂的均匀成核, 更加有效地调控锂沉积行为. 本文结合国内外的研究进展总结了锂金属负极中亲锂骨架的研究成果. 根据亲锂材料的不同对亲锂骨架进行了分类, 总结了各类亲锂骨架在调控锂沉积行为和提高电池性能方面取得的成果, 并对其今后的研究和发展进行了展望.     

亲锂的三维二硫化锡@碳纤维布用于稳定的锂金属负极

金属锂由于其高的比容量,低的电极电势和轻质等特点被认为是下一代高能量密度锂金属二次电池负极材料的最佳选择。然而,充放电循环中不均匀的锂沉积会导致严重的体积变化和大量的锂枝晶形成,从而影响了电池的库伦效率甚至会带来严重的安全隐患。为此,本文设计了一种亲锂的三维二硫化锡@碳纤维布复合基底材料,并作为集流体将其应用于金属锂电池上。一者,高比表面积的三维碳纤维骨架可以适应充放电过程中的体积变化并且有效地降低局部电流密度,从而确保锂的均匀沉积。二者,表面修饰的SnS2层在锂沉积过程中可以形成Li-Sn合金界面层,诱导锂的沉积并降低过电势。最终,实验结果表明:使用所制备的复合集流体与金属锂搭配组成的半电池可以在5 mA·cm^-2的高电流密度下以>98%的库伦效率稳定循环100周以上。此外,在承载10 mAh·cm^-2的金属锂后,复合的锂负极无论是在对称电池还是与磷酸铁锂组装成的实际电池中,均可以在高的电流密度下实现稳定的循环。我们相信这一复合的集流体构建策略对于设计安全稳定的锂金属电池或器件具有重要意义。     

Interwoven nickel(II)-dimethylglyoxime nanowires in 3D nickel foam for dendrite-free lithium deposition

Metal skeletons, such as Nickel Foam (NF) has attracted worldwide interests as stable host for lithium metal anode because of its high stability, large specific surface area and high conductivity. However, most metal skeletons have lithophobic surface and uneven current distribution that result in sporadic lithium nucleation and uncontrolled dendrites growth. Herein, we describe a sequential immersing strategy to generate interwoven Nickel(II)-dimethylglyoxime (Ni-DMG) nanowires at NF to obtain composite skeleton (NDNF), which can be used as an stable host for Li metal storage. The Ni-DMG has proved effective to realize uniform lithium nucleation and dendrite-free lithium deposition. Combing with the three dimensional (3D) hierarchical porous structure, the composite host shows a significantly improved coulombic efficiency (CE) than pristine commercial nickel foam. Moreover, the corresponding Li||Li symmetrical cells can run more than 700 h with low voltage hysteresis 22 mV at 1.0 mA/cm², and Li@NDNF||LiFePO₄ full-cell exhibits a high capacity retention of 82.03% at 1.0 C during 630 cycles. These results proved the effectiveness of metal-organic complexes in governing Li metal growth and can be employed as a new strategy for dendrite-free Li metal anode and safe Li metal batteries (LMBs).     

Electrolyte additive maintains high performance for dendrite-free lithium metal anode

Because of their high capacity and low potential, lithium metal anodes are considered to be promising candidates for next generation electrode materials. However, the safety concerns and limited cycling life associated with uncontrollable dendrite growth hamper practical applications. In this work, the acidified cellulose ester, which is a mixed fiber microporous membrane film, was used as a novel electrolyte additive that effectively improves the cycle stability of the lithium metal anode and inhibits dendrite growth. The focus of this paper is on inhibiting the formation and growth of lithium dendrites. The coulombic efficiency of a Li|Cu battery with this acidified cellulose ester additive remains stable at 99% after 500 cycles under a current density of 1 mA/cm². Symmetric batteries also remain stable after 500 cycles (1000 h) under a current density of 1 mA/cm². These superior properties can be ascribed to the induced nucleation and the uniform distribution of lithium ion flux. This study uncovers an approach for effectively enabling stable cycling of dendrite-free lithium metal anodes.     

Constructing Co3O4 Nanowires on Carbon Fiber Film as a Lithiophilic Host for Stable Lithium Metal Anodes

Lithium metal has been considered as the most promising anode electrode for substantially improving the energy density of next‐generation energy storage devices. However, uncontrollable lithium dendrite growth, an unstable solid electrolyte interface (SEI), and infinite volume variation severely shortens its service lifespan and causes safety hazards, thus hindering the practical application of lithium metal electrodes. Here, carbon fiber film (CFF) modified by lithiophilic Co₃O₄ nanowires (denoted as Co₃O₄ Nws) was proposed as a matrix for prestoring lithium metal through a thermal infusion method. The homogeneous needle‐like Co₃O₄ nanowires can effectively promote molten lithium to infiltrate into the CFF skeleton. The post‐formed Co?Li₂O nanowires produced by the reaction of Co₃O₄ Nws and molten lithium can homogeneously distribute lithium ions flux and efficaciously increase the adsorption energy with lithium ions proved by density functional theory (DFT) calculation, boosting a uniform lithium deposition without dendrite growth. Therefore, the obtained composite anode (denoted as CFF/Co?Li₂O@Li) exhibits superior electrochemical performance with high stripping/plating capacities of 3 mAh cm^?2 and 5 mAh cm^?2 over long‐term cycles in symmetrical batteries. Moreover, in comparison with bare lithium anode, superior Coulombic efficiencies coupled with copper collector and full battery behaviors paired with LiFePO₄ cathode are achieved when CFF/Co?Li₂O@Li composite anode was employed.     

基于聚苯乙烯磺酸的锂金属负极界面保护层的设计

将聚苯乙烯磺酸(PSS)进行锂化处理后, 涂覆在锂箔表面, 在锂金属表面构筑一层均匀的聚苯乙烯磺酸锂(PSSLi)界面保护层, 形成PSSLi@Li复合电极. 通过红外光谱(FTIR)、 电化学阻抗谱(EIS)、 电池性能分析和有限元多物理场仿真模拟等方法, 对该复合电极进行了结构和性能研究. 结果表明, PSSLi界面保护层能有效地避免电解液与锂金属的直接接触, 抑制了“死锂”和锂枝晶的生成. 聚苯乙烯磺酸锂具有整齐排布的磺酸基团, 为锂离子提供了稳定的传输通道, 能够均匀化锂离子的迁移速率, 调节锂离子在电极表面的浓度分布, 并实现均匀的锂金属沉积/剥离. 电化学实验数据表明, 将该PSSLi界面层涂覆在铜箔表面进行库仑效率测试, 循环 350次实验后仍然能够保持在99.5%以上; 利用PSSLi@Li复合电极组装形成的对称电池, 在1 mA/cm²的电流密度、 1 mA·h/cm²的面积容量下, 能够稳定循环1200 h以上; PSSLi@Li与磷酸铁锂正极材料组装的全电池, 在1C倍率下循环500次后, 仍具有115 mA·h/g的容量, 容量保持率可达81%以上; 在8C的高倍率下, 该电池的容量可达到105 mA·h/g.     

Functional lithiophilic polymer modified separator for dendrite-free and pulverization-free lithium metal batteries

Severe performance drop and fire risk due to the uneven lithium(Li) dendrite formation and growth during charge/discharge process has been considered as the major obstacle to the practical application of Li metal batteries.So inhibiting dendrite growth and producing a stable and robust solid electrolyte interface(SEI) layer are essential to enable the use of Li metal anodes.In this work,a functional lithiophilic polymer composed of chitosan(CTS),polyethylene oxide(PEO),and poly(triethylene glycol dimethacrylate)(PTEGDMA),was homogeneously deposited on a commercial Celgard separator by combining electrospraying and polymer photopolymerization techniques.The lithiophilic environment offered by the CTS-PEO-PTEGDMA layer enables uniform Li deposition and facilitates the formation of a robust homogeneous SEI layer,thus prevent the formation and growth of Li dendrites.As a result,both Li/Li symmetric cells and LiFePO4/Li full cells deliver significantly enhanced electrochemical performance and cycle life.Even after 1000 cycles,the specific capacity of the modified full cell could be maintained at65.8 mAh g^-1, twice which of the unmodified cell(32.8 mAh g^-1).The long-term cycling stability in Li/Li symmetric cells,dendrite-free anodes in SEM images and XPS analysis suggest that the pulverization of the Li anode was effectively suppressed by the lithiophilic polymer layer.     

A Chemically Bonded Ultraconformal Layer between the Elastic Solid Electrolyte and Lithium Anode for High-performance Lithium Metal Batteries

Although high ionic conductivities have been achieved in most solid-state electrolytes used in lithium metal batteries (LMBs), rapid and stable lithium-ion transport between solid-state electrolytes and lithium anodes remains a great challenge due to the high interfacial impedances and infinite volume changes of metallic lithium. In this work, a chemical vapor-phase fluorination approach is developed to establish a lithiophilic surface on rubber-derived electrolytes, which results in the formation of a resilient, ultrathin, and mechanically integral LiF-rich layer after electrochemical cycling. The resulting ultraconformal layer chemically connects the electrolyte and lithium anode and maintains dynamic contact during operation, thus facilitating rapid and stable lithium-ion transport across interfaces, as well as promoting uniform lithium deposition and inhibiting side reactions between electrolyte components and metallic lithium. LMBs containing the novel electrolyte have an ultralong cycling life of 2500 h and deliver a high critical current density of 1.1 mA cm⁻² in lithium symmetric cells as well as showing good stability over 300 cycles in a full cell.     

Sustainable and Robust Graphene Cellulose Paper Decorated with Lithiophilic Au Nanoparticles to Enable Dendrite-free and High-Power Lithium Metal Anode

Lithium metal anodes (LMAs) with high energy density have recently captured increasing attention for development of next-generation batteries. However, practical viability of LMAs is hindered by the uncontrolled Li dendrite growth and infinite dimension change. Even though constructing 3D conductive skeleton has been regarded as a reliable strategy to prepare stable and low volume stress LMAs, engineering the renewable and lithiophilic conductive scaffold is still a challenge. Herein, a robust conductive scaffold derived from renewable cellulose paper, which is coated with reduced graphene oxide and decorated with lithiophilic Au nanoparticles, is engineered for LMAs. The graphene cellulose fibres with high surface area can reduce the local current density, while the well-dispersed Au nanoparticles can serve as lithiophilic nanoseeds to lower the nucleation overpotential of Li plating. The coupled relationship can guarantee uniform Li nucleation and unique spherical Li growth into 3D carbon matrix. Moreover, the natural cellulose paper possesses outstanding mechanical strength to tolerate the volume stress. In virtue of the modulated deposition behaviour and near-zero volume change, the hybrid LMAs can achieve reversible Li plating/stripping even at an ultrahigh current density of 10 mA cm⁻² as evidenced by high Coulombic efficiency (97.2 % after 60 cycles) and ultralong lifespan (1000 cycles) together with ultralow overpotential (25 mV). Therefore, this strategy sheds light on a scalable approach to multiscale design versatile Li host, promising highly stable Li metal batteries to be feasible and practical.     

EC modified PEO/PVDF-LLZO composite electrolytes for solid state lithium metal batteries

The polymer-ceramic composite electrolytes have great application potential for next-generation solid state lithium batteries, as they have the merits to eliminate the problem of liquid organic electrolytes and enhancing chemical/electrochemical stability. However, polymer-ceramic composite electrolytes show poor ionic conductivity, which greatly hinders their practical applications. In this work, the addition of plasticizer ethylene carbonate (EC) into polymer-ceramic composite electrolyte for lithium batteries effectively promotes the ionic conductivity. A high ionic conductivity can be attained by adding 40 wt% EC to the polyethylene oxide (PEO)/polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)-Li₇La₃Zr₂O₁₂ (LLZO) based polymer-ceramic composite electrolytes, which is 2.64 × 10⁻⁴ S cm⁻¹ (tested at room temperature). Furthermore, the cell assembled with lithium metal anode, this composite electrolyte, and LiFePO₄ cathode can work more than 80 cycles at room temperature (tested at 0.2 C). The battery delivers a high reversible specific capacity after 89 cycles, which is 119 mAh g⁻¹.     

Fe2O3锂离子电池负极材料研究进展

Fe2O3锂离子电池负极材料因其具有的高能量密度而备受关注。但Fe2O3电极材料存在的如低导电性、充/放电过程中体积改变导致的循环稳定性差等问题限制其实际应用。介绍了高比表面积、结构稳定以及储锂动力学等因素对锂离子电池负极材料电化学性能的重要影响,综述电极活性材料纳米化、形貌控制和杂原子掺杂对Fe2O3负极材料电化学性能改善的相关研究进展,最后对Fe2O3电极材料的发展前景进行了展望。     

An odyssey of lithium metal anode in liquid lithium–sulfur batteries

Lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries exhibit outstanding energy density and material sustainability. Enormous effects have been devoted to the sulfur cathode to address redox kinetics and polysulfide intermediates shuttle. Recent attentions are gradually turning to the protection of the lithium metal anodes, since electrochemical performances of Li–S batteries are closely linked to the working efficiency of the anode side, especially in pouch cells that adopt stringent test protocols. This Perspective article summarizes critical issues encountered in the lithium metal anode, and outlines possible solutions to achieve efficient working lithium anode in Li–S batteries. The lithium metal anode in Li–S batteries shares the common failure mechanisms of volume fluctuation, nonuniform lithium flux, electrolyte corrosion and lithium pulverization occurring in lithium metal batteries with oxide cathodes, and also experiences unique polysulfide corrosion and massive lithium accumulation. These issues can be partially addressed by developing three-dimensional scaffold, exerting quasi-solid reaction, tailoring native solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) and designing artificial SEI. The practical evaluation of Li–S batteries highlights the importance of pouch cell platform, which is distinguished from coin-type cells in terms of lean electrolyte-to-sulfur ratio, thin lithium foil, as well as sizable total capacity and current that are loaded on pouch cells. This Perspective underlines the development of practically efficient working lithium metal anode in Li–S batteries.     

利用原位氟化保护层改善三维锡锂合金/碳纸负极贫电解液下性能

金属锂具有最高的理论比容量(3860 mAh·g^?1)和最低的还原电势(?3.04 V),是新型高能量密度电池负极材料的最佳选择之一。然而由于金属锂负极表面自发生成的固态电解质界面(SEI)十分不稳定,导致锂枝晶的产生和电池容量快速衰减,严重限制了锂金属电池的商业化应用。因此,本工作利用碳酸双(2,2,2-三氟乙基)酯(DTFEC)添加剂在三维锡锂合金/碳纸负极(SnLi/Cp)表面原位构筑了高机械强度和离子穿透性的含氟化物(LiF和SnF2)保护层,有效地改善了锂负极的倍率性能和循环稳定性。结果显示,SnLi/Cp对称电池在8 mA·cm^?2的电流密度下经过100次循环后过电位仅为90 mV。当将电解液降低到12μL(1.5μL·(mAh)?1)时,在5 mA·cm^?2的电流密度下对称电池仍具有优异的稳定性;SnLi/Cp||NMC811电池在1C(1.5 mA·cm^?2)条件下能稳定循环300圈以上,库伦效率高达98.1%。这种方法能够显著改善锂金属负极的循环稳定性,有助于实现高能量密度锂金属电池的实际应用。     

Nb2O5-carbon core-shell nanocomposite as anode material for lithium ion battery

Nb₂O₅-carbon nanocomposite is synthesized through a facile one-step hydrothermal reaction from sucrose as the carbon source, and studied as an anode material for high-performance lithium ion battery. The structural characterizations reveal that the nanocomposite possesses a core-shell structure with a thin layer of carbon shell homogeneously coated on the Nb₂O₅ nanocrystals. Such a unique structure enables the composite electrode with a long cycle life by preventing the Nb₂O₅ from volume change and pulverization during the charge-discharge process. In addition, the carbon shell efficiently improves the rate capability. Even at a current density of 500 mA·g^?1, the composite electrode still exhibits a specific capacity of ～100 mAh·g^?1. These results suggest the possibility to utilize the Nb₂O₅-carbon core-shell composite as a high performance anode material in the practical application of lithium ion battery.     

Catalytic Chemistry Derived Artificial Solid Electrolyte Interphase for Stable Lithium Metal Anodes Working at 20 mA cm−2 and 20 mAh cm−2

A stable solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer is crucial for lithium metal anode (LMA) to survive in long-term cycling. However, chaotic structures and chemical inhomogeneity of natural SEI make LMA suffering from exasperating dendrite growth and severe electrode pulverization, which hinder the practical application of LMAs. Here, we design a catalyst-derived artificial SEI layer with an ordered polyamide-lithium hydroxide (PA-LiOH) bi-phase structure to modulate ion transport and enable dendrite-free Li deposition. The PA-LiOH layer can substantially suppress the volume changes of LMA during Li plating/stripping cycles, as well as alleviate the parasitic reactions between LMA and electrolyte. The optimized LMAs demonstrate excellent stability in Li plating/stripping cycles for over 1000 hours at an ultra-high current density of 20 mA cm⁻² in Li||Li symmetric cells. A high coulombic efficiency up to 99.2 % in Li half cells in additive-free electrolytes is achieved even after 500 cycles at a current density of 1 mA cm⁻² with a capacity of 1 mAh cm⁻².     

Lithiophilic Sites in Doped Graphene Guide Uniform Lithium Nucleation for Dendrite-Free Lithium Metal Anodes

Lithium (Li) metal is the most promising electrode for next-generation rechargeable batteries. However, the challenges induced by Li dendrites on a working Li metal anode hinder the practical applications of Li metal batteries. Herein, nitrogen (N) doped graphene was adopted as the Li plating matrix to regulate Li metal nucleation and suppress dendrite growth. The N-containing functional groups, such as pyridinic and pyrrolic nitrogen in the N-doped graphene, are lithiophilic, which guide the metallic Li nucleation causing the metal to distribute uniformly on the anode surface. As a result, the N-doped graphene modified Li metal anode exhibits a dendrite-free morphology during repeated Li plating and demonstrates a high Coulombic efficiency of 98 % for near 200 cycles.     

Covalent modification of natural graphite with lithium benzoate multilayers via diazonium chemistry and their application in lithium ion batteries

In this study, we present an alternative pathway for the surface modification of anode materials of lithium ion batteries via molecular design. Aromatic multilayers of lithium benzoate were covalently attached to the surface of natural graphite through diazonium chemistry, and the resulting graphite exhibited superior electrochemical performance as anode material of lithium ion batteries. The mechanism responsible for the improved electrochemical behavior was ascribed to the formation of a stable and compact passive film that can accommodate the volume change of graphite particles. Due to the diversity and reliability of diazonium chemistry, this study may provide a new strategy to modify the conventional anode or even cathode materials of lithium ion batteries.     

Lithiophilic Sites in Doped Graphene Guide Uniform Lithium Nucleation for Dendrite‐Free Lithium Metal Anodes

Lithium (Li) metal is the most promising electrode for next‐generation rechargeable batteries. However, the challenges induced by Li dendrites on a working Li metal anode hinder the practical applications of Li metal batteries. Herein, nitrogen (N) doped graphene was adopted as the Li plating matrix to regulate Li metal nucleation and suppress dendrite growth. The N‐containing functional groups, such as pyridinic and pyrrolic nitrogen in the N‐doped graphene, are lithiophilic, which guide the metallic Li nucleation causing the metal to distribute uniformly on the anode surface. As a result, the N‐doped graphene modified Li metal anode exhibits a dendrite‐free morphology during repeated Li plating and demonstrates a high Coulombic efficiency of 98 % for near 200 cycles.