Scalable hierarchical lithiophilic engineering of metal foam enables stable lithium metal batteries

Abstract

Li metal has been rated as the terminal anode solution for next-generation energetic Li batteries. However, hostless Li metal often undergoes severe structural and functional failure due to dendrite growth. Despite great progresses on engineering current collectors, scalable production of reliable hosts with high Li affinity remains challenging, as well as thereby direct mass production of feasible Li metal anodes. Herein, a facile and scalable hierarchical lithiophilic strategy is developed to fabricate efficient Li metal anodes through thermal lithium infusion. With a dense surface oxide thin layer formed, molten Li can infuse into the whole host; and sufficient long Ag nanowires are spray-coated onto the oxidized skeleton as continuous “Li+ pump” during cycling. The resultant Li electrode achieves highly stable cycling by dendrite suppression, supported by operando optical observation. Li-O2 cell using the advanced Li anode yields high cyclability with small voltage hysteresis by forming stable SEI layer. This work proposes a feasible lithiophilic route for producing practical Li anodes.