Lithiophilic 3D scaffold orienteering induced Li uniform deposition for highly stable lithium metal batteries

Abstract

With the restrict of dendrites growth and endless volume expansion, the practical application of lithium metal batteries is stagnant. Constructing 3D scaffold is an effective strategy, which is not only inhibiting the dendrites growth by redistribute the local current density, but also accommodating large volume fluctuate during Li metal plating/striping. Whereas, the “top-growth” mode of lithium deposit on current collector limited the utilization of 3D structure. Hence, Cu foam scaffold modified with ZnO coating is prepare through magnetron sputtering. The lithiophilic ZnO coating can adjusting electrons and Li+ distribution on the anode surface simultaneously, which can orienteering induce Li deposit on the bottom surface firstly, achieving “bottom-up” growth mode. Furthermore, benefiting from the reversible Li plating-striping behavior, the half-cell with CF-ZnO scaffold endows a longer lifespan at various current density, the symmetrical cell can stable cycle for more than 1100 h with steadily voltage hysteresis of 12 mV (1 mA cm−2, 1 mA h cm−2). For the practical application measurement, the LiFePO4 full cell has a lifespan for more than 1000 cycles with capacity retention of 79.19 % at 2 A g−1.