Template-Sacrificed Hot Fusion Construction and Nanoseed Modification of 3D Porous Copper Nanoscaffold Host for Stable-Cycling Lithium Metal Anodes

Lithium (Li) metal anodes have been proposed as a promising candidate for high-energy-density electrode materials in secondary batteries. However, the dendrite growth and unstable electrode electrolyte interfaces during Li plating/stripping are fatal to their practical applications. Herein, the construction of 3D porous Au/Cu nanoscaffold prepared via a convenient template-sacrificed hot fusion construction method and a nanoseed modification process as an effective Li metal hosting material are proposed. The Au/Cu nanoscaffold can spatially guide uniform deposition of Li metal free from the growth of Li dendrites due to the homogenous Li+ ion flux and negligible nucleation overpotential. Moreover, the Cu skeleton can relieve volume change and stabilize local current density during cycling processes. Benefiting from these advantages, the symmetric cells based on self-supported Li-filled Au/Cu (Li-Au/Cu) nanoscaffold electrodes present highly stable Li plating/stripping for more than 1000 h with a low voltage hysteresis less than 90 mV and a long lifespan over 1300 h at 1.0 mA cm(-2) in carbonate-based electrolytes. Impressively, the Li-Au/Cu nanoscaffold parallel to LiFePO4 full cells also exhibit exceptional cycling stability and rate performance. This work provides a promising strategy to construct dendrite-free lithium metal anodes toward high-performance lithium metal batteries.

Automated summary

A new method for constructing Au/Cu nanoscaffold as an effective Li metal hosting material to solve the dendrite growth and unstable interface issues during Li plating/stripping process is proposed in this work. The symmetric cells based on this nanoscaffold exhibit stable performance, demonstrating great potential for high-performance lithium metal batteries.