Interfacial modification by lithiophilic oxide facilitating uniform and thin solid electrolyte interphase towards stable lithium metal anodes

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In this work, metal foam current collectors (CCs, i.e. nickel [Ni] and copper [Cu]) were treated by thermal oxidation to create a lithiophilic oxide surface that exhibited enhanced electrochemical performances of lithium anodes such as the cyclic stability of Coulombic efficiency at different current densities for various capacities compared to pristine CCs. The oxidized CCs facilitated much increased diffusivities of ions for lithium growth than pristine CCs. It was found that an inhomogeneous solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) formed on pristine CCs while a uniform SEI formed on oxidized CCs. Uniform lithium (Li) deposition can be achieved on oxidized CCs owing to the lithiophilic oxide surface containing metal nanoparticles and the ionic compound lithium oxide (Li2O) matrix that led to a uniform SEI film and many nucleation sites. In addition, the porous and non-porous composite anodes exhibited different electrochemical performances. The porous composite anodes showed initial lower voltage hysteresis but shorter lifetime with carbonate-based electrolyte than non-porous composite anodes. The porous composite anodes showed better rate performances in full-cell measurements while the non-porous composite anodes displayed better stability. The interfacial modification of porous hosts by lithiated oxides and the effects of porous structure on battery performances can be also useful for designing other electrodes (e.g. sodium [Na], potassium [K], zinc [Zn]).