The long-standing issue of lithium dendrite growth during repeated deposition or dissolution processes hinders the practical use of lithium-metal anodes for high-energy density batteries. Here, we demonstrate a promising lithiophilic–lithiophobic gradient interfacial layer strategy in which the bottom lithiophilic zinc oxide/carbon nanotube sublayer tightly anchors the whole layer onto the lithium foil, facilitating the formation of a stable solid electrolyte interphase, and prevents the formation of an intermediate mossy lithium corrosion layer. Together with the top lithiophobic carbon nanotube sublayer, this gradient interfacial layer can effectively suppress dendrite growth and ensure ultralong-term stable lithium stripping/plating. This strategy is further demonstrated to provide substantially improved cycle performance in copper current collector, 10 cm2 pouch cell and lithium–sulfur batteries, which, coupled with a simple fabrication process and wide applicability in various materials for lithium-metal protection, makes the lithiophilic–lithiophobic gradient interfacial layer a favored strategy for next-generation lithium-metal batteries.
Pig bone derived carbon with a unique hierarchical porous structure was prepared by potassium hydroxide (KOH) activation. The effects of activation temperature on the textural properties of the pig bone based carbons were investigated. The hierarchical porous carbons exhibit the largest BET specific surface areas and pore volume when the activation temperature reaches 850 C, and the carbon still maintains a highly hierarchical structure even when the temperature is up to 950 C. The pig bone derived hierarchical porous carbon/sulfur composites have been tested as a novel cathode for lithiumsulfur batteries. The result shows that the cycle stability and the utilization of sulfur in the lithiumsulfur batteries have been largely improved. The hierarchical porous carbon/sulfur cathode has a high initial capacity of 1265 mAh g À1 and 643 mAh g À1 after 50 cycles, which is higher than that of the normal cathodes with compact structures.
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