Growing Nanostructured CuO on Copper Foil via Chemical Etching to Upgrade Metallic Lithium Anode

Abstract

Metallic lithium is one of the most promising anode materials to build next generation electrochemical power sources such as Li-air, Li-sulfur, and solid-state lithium batteries. The implementation of rechargeable Li-based batteries is plagued by issues including dendrites, pulverization, and an unstable solid electrolyte interface (SEI). Herein, we report the use of nanostructured CuO in situ grown on commercial copper foil (CuO@Cu) via chemical etching as a Li-reservoir substrate to stabilize SEI formation and Li stripping/plating. The lithiophilic interconnected CuO layer enhances electrolyte wettability. Besides, a mechanically stable Li 2 O-and LiF-rich SEI is generated on CuO@Cu during initial discharge, which permits dense and uniform lithium deposition upon subsequent cycling. Compared with bare Cu, the CuO@Cu electrode exhibits superior performance in terms of Coulombic efficiency, discharge/charge overpotentials, and cyclability. By pairing with the Li-CuO@Cu anodes, full cells with LiFePO 4 and LiNi 1/3 Mn 1/3 Co 1/3 O 2 cathodes sustain 300 cycles with 98.8% capacity retention at 1 C and deliver a specific capacity of 80 mAh g −1 at 10 C, respectively. This work would shed light on the design of advanced current collectors with SEI modulation to upgrade lithium anodes.

Uniform Deposition of Li-Metal Anodes Guided by 3D Current Collectors with In Situ Modification of the Lithiophilic Matrix

“…The 3D structure modified by lithiophilic CuO and SnO 2 can lower the current density and inhibits the volume change. Besides, it can provide enough lithiophilic sites to improve the interfacial activity of the 3D host, thus guiding a homogeneous plating of Li. − What is more important, CuO and SnO 2 react with Li, generating Li 2 O, Cu, and Li 22 Sn 5 during the Li deposition process, − which is conducive to promote the formation of stable SEI and facilitate the transfer of Li + . Therefore, due to the synergistic function of 3D Cu and lithiophilic CuO and SnO 2 , the 3D CSCC electrode exhibits excellent cycling performance.…”

Present and future of functionalized Cu current collectors for stabilizing lithium metal anodes

“…The as-formed Li2O-rich SEI layer not only suppresses the undesired side reaction between Li metal and electrolyte, but also promotes uniform Li nucleation and deposition. Accordingly, a series of CuO nanostructures including nanowires, nanorods, nanosheets, etc., were applied to integrate with Cu foil [173][174][175][176][177]. As a notable example, Yang's group reported vertically aligned CuO nanosheets decorated Cu skeletons (VA-CuO-Cu) [176].…”

Structure and Magnetic Properties of AO and LiFePO4/C Composites by Sol-Gel Combustion Method

“…Zhang et al [ 9 ] studied a three-dimensional (3D) nanostructured skeleton substrate composed of hollow carbon fiber/carbon nanosheet/ZnO and found that the full cell of a NHCF/CN/ZnO/Li anode with LiFePO 4 can work very well. Qiu X et al [ 10 ] studied and found that full cells with LiFePO 4 cathodes sustain 300 cycles with 98.8% capacity retention at 1 C by pairing with the Li-CuO@Cu anodes. ZnO and carbon co-modified LiFePO 4 nanomaterials (LFP/C-ZnO) were prepared by Xiaohua Chen et al [ 11 ], and it was found that when x = 3 wt%, LFP/C-xZnO exhibited well-dispersed spherical particles and remarkable cycling stability (it maintained 94.8% of the initial capacity after 50 cycles at 0.1 C).…”