Vesicle-shaped ZIF-8 shell shielded in 3D carbon cloth for uniform nucleation and growth towards long-life lithium metal anode

Lithium metal has aroused extensive research interests as the anode for next-generation rechargeable batteries. However, the well-known dendritic Li growth and consequent safety issues still impair the long-term cycling performance. Herein, a hybrid structure composed of 3D carbon cloth and vesicle-shaped hollow ZIF-8 modification shell (HZS@CC ) was prepared as a smart host for guiding uniform Li deposition. The long-range interconnected 3D carbon fiber network enables the reduced local current density with homogeneous electrons distribution. Synergistically, abundant surface polar groups and the ultrastructure on ZIF-8 particles effectively guide a well-distributed Li-ions flow to promote the uniform Li nucleation and growth. As a result, stable Li plating/stripping for 2000 h with a low overpotential (approximate to 15 mV) at 1 mA cm(-2) were achieved in symmetric cells. Coupling with LiFePO4 cathode, the full cell delivered long life over 1200 cycles at 6 C. This research demonstrated that a homogenization guiding of Li-ions is of great importance to better make use of the structural advantage of 3D hosts and achieve improved electrochemical performance. (C) 2020 Science Press and Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by ELSEVIER B.V. and Science Press. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The research demonstrates that using a hybrid structure composed of 3D carbon cloth and vesicle-shaped hollow ZIF-8 modification shell as a smart host successfully achieved stable lithium plating/stripping and long life cycle performance of the battery.