Rational Design of a 3D Li-Metal Electrode for High-Energy Lithium Batteries

Abstract

Li metal is considered the ultimate electrode for lithium-ion batteries due to its high specific capacity (3860 mAh g–1) and density (0.534 g cm–3). Despite these advantages, the practical use of Li-metal electrodes is currently limited by uncontrollable Li-plating and stripping, which causes undesirable dendritic growth and severe volume changes during cycles. As a practical solution for the successful implementation of Li-metal electrodes, we propose herein a three-dimensional (3D) Li-metal electrode by integrating 3D Ni foam as a current collector via a molten Li impregnation process. Using both theoretical simulations and experiments, we demonstrate that our 3D Li-metal electrode creates a large contact area between active Li metal and the current collector, which is beneficial for improving the reversibility by reducing the overpotential for Li-plating and stripping and suppressing the dendritic growth of Li during cycles. Furthermore, dimensional changes of the Li-metal electrode are effectively minimized by the 3D Ni foam framework. For practical use, the feasibility of the 3D Li-metal electrode is examined in a full-cell compared to a conventional 2D Li-metal electrode. We believe that this work will provide insights into the design of advanced Li batteries configured with a Li-metal electrode.

An ultralight lithiophilic framework with Faraday-shielded cages for stable lithium metal anodes

“…[11][12][13][14][15][16][17] Different from the interfacial structure design, multidimensional structures can lower the local current density on the electrode to retard Li dendrite growth and provide sufficient space to alleviate the volume change. 7,[18][19][20][21] Up to now, various multi-dimensional frameworks have been reported as a Li composite anode, for example, 3D metallic current collectors (Cu foam and Ni foam) and commercial carbon-based current collectors (carbon paper and carbon felt). [22][23][24][25] However, most of the metallic frameworks are highdensity materials compared with bare Li metal, therefore, resulting in low actual specic capacities for application.…”

Extrusion 3D Printing of Patterned Cu Current Collectors for Advanced Lithium Metal Anodes

“…The roughness values were necessary to estimate the surface area of each current collector, which plays a crucial role in improving the electrochemical performance of the 3DCu -based anodes favouring a more stable Li electrodeposition, dendrite suppression, higher capacity, and power density. [21][22][23][24] The surface area of the current collectors was determined by calculating the geometrical area of the printed current collector and superimposing a 16-bit image collected by profilometry scanning to introduce the roughness features (Figure S3). The surface modelization was done using CAD software with complex 3D modeling tools (Rhinoceros 3D, Robert McNeel & Associates).…”

Advances in the Emerging Gradient Designs of Li Metal Hosts

“…Moreover, the quantitative understanding of the deposition process is still challenging. Further theoretical simulations, for example, finite element modeling, are expected to provide a deeper understanding of the evolution of Li plating/stripping in host materials [109][110][111][112][113].…”