Reversible, Dendrite-Free, High-Capacity Aluminum Metal Anode Enabled by Aluminophilic Interface Layer

Aluminum (Al) metal is an attractive anode material for next-generation rechargeable batteries, because of its low cost and high capacities. However, it brings some fundamental issues such as dendrites, low Coulombic efficiency (CE), and low utilization. Here, we propose a strategy for constructing an ultrathin aluminophilic interface layer (AIL) to regulate the Al nucleation and growth behaviors, which enables highly reversible and dendrite-free Al plating/stripping under high areal capacity. Metallic Al can maintain stable plating/stripping on the Pt-AIL@Ti for over 2000 h at 10 mAh cm-2 with an average CE of 99.9%. The Pt-AIL also enables reversible Al plating/stripping at a record high areal capacity of 50 mAh cm-2, which is 1-2 orders of magnitude higher than the previous studies. This work provides a valuable direction for further construction of high-performance rechargeable Al metal batteries.

Automated summary

We propose a strategy for constructing an ultrathin aluminophilic interface layer (AIL) to enable highly reversible and dendrite-free Al plating/stripping in rechargeable batteries. The Pt-AIL@Ti electrode demonstrates stable plating/stripping of Al at a high areal capacity and exhibits an average Coulombic efficiency of 99.9%. This work provides valuable insights for the development of high-performance rechargeable Al metal batteries.