High performance aluminum foam-graphite dual-ion batteries and failure analysis

Abstract

In this work, we develop an aluminum foam-graphite dual-ion battery (Al foam-G DIB) with graphite cathode and Al foam anode, which both are environmentally friendly and low-cost electrode materials. Due to the high specific surface area and robust porous structure of the 3D Al foam, the Al foam-G DIB delivers a higher specific capacity and displays much better cycling stability than Al foil-G DIB. Moreover, the structural evolution of the Al foam anode over cycling is monitored, and the failure mechanism of Al foam-G DIB is discussed. The results demonstrate that the Al anode undergoes severe pulverizing and cracking due to volume change caused by charging and discharging, which is the main reason leading to capacity decay. The Al foam anode undergoes less structural crack compared with the Al foil anode due to the 3D robust porous characteristic, resulting in much better durability. Furthermore, it’s observed that the Al foam-G DIB displays better cycling stability at a higher current rate than that with a lower current rate.