Reversible, Dendrite-Free, High-Capacity Aluminum Metal Anode Enabled by Aluminophilic Interface Layer

Abstract

Aluminum (Al) metal is an attractive anode material for next-generation rechargeable batteries, because of its low cost and high capacities. However, it brings some fundamental issues such as dendrites, low Coulombic efficiency (CE), and low utilization. Here, we propose a strategy for constructing an ultrathin aluminophilic interface layer (AIL) to regulate the Al nucleation and growth behaviors, which enables highly reversible and dendrite-free Al plating/stripping under high areal capacity. Metallic Al can maintain stable plating/stripping on the Pt-AIL@Ti for over 2000 h at 10 mAh cm −2 with an average CE of 99.9%. The Pt-AIL also enables reversible Al plating/stripping at a record high areal capacity of 50 mAh cm −2 , which is 1−2 orders of magnitude higher than the previous studies. This work provides a valuable direction for further construction of high-performance rechargeable Al metal batteries.

Aluminum dendrite suppression by graphite coated anodes of Al-metal batteries

“…2h and i. The calculation results show that graphite possesses lower binding energy (−1.77 eV) than alumina (−1.59 eV), suggesting that the Al nucleation tends to take place on the graphite matrix, 37,38 which is consistent with the experimental result that Al is preferentially plated on the graphite coating rather than the Al substrate.…”

“…These results indicate that the graphite coating layer greatly impacts the plating/stripping behaviours and improves the electrochemical reversibility of the Al anode. The electrochemical performances of state-of-the-art Al anodes are listed in Table S1 † 10,22,37,39–44 . It is found that our Al-g anode shows competitive electrochemical performances.…”

“…The electrochemical performances of state-of-the-art Al anodes are listed in Table S1. † 10,22,37,[39][40][41][42][43][44] It is found that our Al-g anode shows competitive electrochemical performances. Considering the facile and lowcost features, the overall evaluation of this commercial Al-g electrode is attractive for the eld of RABs.…”

Anode‐Free Aluminum Electrode with Ultralong Cycle Life and High Coulombic Efficiency Exceeding 99.92% Enabled by a Lattice‐Matching Layer

“…Rechargeable aluminum batteries (RABs) are considered as the promising candidate of state-of-the-art post-lithium battery systems due to the highest abundance, environmental sustainability, low cost, and high theoretical capacity of Al. [1][2][3][4] However, Al anode exhibits poor reversibility and stability of DOI: 10.1002/aenm.202301322 deposition/dissolution caused by parasitic hydrogen evolution reaction, dense passivation layer of Al 2 O 3 , and Al dendrites. [5][6][7] It is urgent to take effective strategies to address these intrinsic drawbacks of Al anodes for their practical deployment.…”

Balancing Interfacial Reactions through Regulating p‐Band Centers by an Indium Tin Oxide Protective Layer for Stable Zn Metal Anodes

“…Aqueous rechargeable zinc ion batteries (ZIBs) are considered among the most promising candidates for the next generation post‐lithium batteries due to their low‐cost, reliable safety, and scalable production [1–6] . Metallic zinc (Zn) as an anode has many inherent advantages such as high specific capacity (820 mAh g −1 ) and volumetric capacity (5857 mAh L −1 ), reasonable redox potential (−0.76 V vs standard hydrogen electrode), and low cost (2.4 USD kg −1 ) [7–9] .…”