Honeycomb-like porous 3D nickel electrodeposition for stable Li and Na metal anodes

Abstract

Li and Na metals have the highest theoretical anode capacity for Li/Na batteries, but the operational safety hazards stemming from uncontrolled growth of Li/Na dendrites and unstable electrode-electrolyte interfaces hinder their real-world applications. Recently, the emergence of 3D conductive scaffolds aimed at mitigating the dendritic growth to improve the cycling stability has gained traction. However, while achieving 3D scaffolds that are conducive to completely prevent dendritic Li/Na is challenging, the routes proposed to fabricate 3D scaffolds to date are often complex and expensive. This not only leads to suboptimal battery performance but can make the manufacturing nearly unachievable, compromising their commercial viability. We herein introduce a facile and single-step route to honeycomb-like 3D porous Ni@Cu scaffolds via a hydrogen bubble dynamic template (HBDT) electrodeposition method. The current collectors fabricated by this method offer highly stable cycling performance of Li plating/stripping (> 300 cycles at 0.5 mAh cm-2 and over 200 cycles at 1.0 mAh cm-2), attributed to their ability to effectively accommodate Li/Na deposits in their porous networks and to delocalize the charge distribution. The beneficial role of LiNO3 as an electrolyte additive in improving the mechanical integrity of solid electrolyte interface (SEI) and mechanistic insights into how the 3D porous structure facilitates Li/Na plating/stripping are comprehensively presented. Finally, with an outstanding cycling performance of reversible Na deposition (over 240, 110 and 50 cycles for 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 mAh cm-2 at 1.0 mA cm-2), our findings open new doors to expedite the development of Li/Na metal battery technology.

Nonlithium Metal–Sulfur Batteries: Steps Toward a Leap

“…Apart from carbon materials, 3D metal frameworks have also been developed as scaffolds for Na metal. For this purpose, a honeycomb‐like 3D porous Ni@Cu substrate was prepared by electrodeposition and served as a host for Na metal ( Figure a) . On this material, Na can be homogeneously deposited in the honeycomb‐like pores to eventually form a flat Na metal surface without dendrites (Figure b).…”

“…b) SEM images after different periods of Na deposition. a,b) Reproduced with permission . Copyright 2018, Elsevier.…”

A binder-free electrode architecture design for lithium–sulfur batteries: a review

“…Although the Li anodes with a 3D conductive material network architecture displayed superior electrochemical performance in many previous studies, the Li wettability on the surface of hosts still restricts the further improvement of Li anodes. [114][115][116] To address this issue, surface-modied 3D host material network structures within lithiophilic materials have been developed to enhance the wetting properties between metallic lithium and host materials, leading to superior electrochemical performances during lithium plating/stripping. [117][118][119][120] Yang et al utilized silver nanoparticle (AgNP) modied 3D carbon nano-bers (CNFs) to impede the formation of Li dendrites.…”

Advanced Na metal anodes

“…Therefore, an electrode matrix construction can effectively accommodate the huge volume change of Na metal anode and suppress dendrite growth. Up to now, several matrixes, such as the reduced graphene oxide (r-GO) [102] , carbonized wood [100] , porous Al current collector [103] , porous 3D nickel [101] , and carbon felt [104] , have been proposed for Na metal anode construction. For example, a carbonized wood with porous channels was used as a structural skeleton to fabricate Na-wood composite anode.…”