3D Free‐Standing Carbon Nanofibers Modified by Lithiophilic Metals Enabling Dendrite‐Free Anodes for Li Metal Batteries

Abstract

Li metal with high‐energy density is considered as the most promising anode for the next‐generation rechargeable Li metal batteries; however, the growth of Li dendrites seriously hinders its practical application. Herein, 3D free‐standing carbon nanofibers modified by lithiophilic metal particles (CNF/Me, Me=Sn, Fe, Co) are obtained in situ by the electrospinning method. Benefiting from the lithophilicity, the CNF/Me composite may effectively prevent the formation of Li dendrites in the Li metal batteries. The optimized CNF/Sn–Li composite electrode exhibits a stable cycle life of over 2350 h during Li plating/stripping. When matched with typical commercial LiFePO4 (LFP) cathode, the LFP//CNF/Sn–Li full cell presents a high initial discharge specific capacity of 139 mAh g−1 at 1 C, which remains at 146 mAh g−1 after 400 cycles. When another state‐of‐the‐art commercial LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 (NCM(811)) cathode is used, the assembled NCM//CNF/Sn–Li full cell shows a large initial specific discharge capacity of 206 mAh g−1 at substantially enhanced 10 C, which keeps at the good capacity of 99 mAh g−1 after 300 cycles. These results are greatly superior to the counterparts with Li as the anodes, indicating the great potential for practical utilization of the advanced CNF/Sn–Li electrode.