Exchange of Li and AgNO₃ Enabling Stable 3D Lithium Metal Anodes with Embedded Lithophilic Nanoparticles and a Solid Electrolyte Interphase Inducer

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) current collectors can effectively mitigate the volumetric expansion of working lithium metal anodes (LMAs). However, the practical utilization of 3D current collectors for lithium metal batteries remains unsatisfactory because of inhomogeneous deposition of lithium ions and an unstable solid electrolyte interphase (SEI). Herein, a facile method based on the exchange reaction between Li and AgNO3 is exploited to embed Ag nanoparticles (NPs) and LiNO3 in a carbon paper (ALCP@Li). The Ag NPs act as a seed for even lithium deposition inside the carbon matrix by virtue of their excellent lithiophilicity. Simultaneously, LiNO3 plays an effective role in stabilizing LMAs by evolving a robust N-rich SEI. As a result, such 3D LMAs show a high Coulombic efficiency in half-cells (200 cycles, 99% at 1 mA cm–2, 1 mAh cm–2) and a low overpotential (60 mV). When paired with commercial thick NCM622 and LiFePO4 cathodes, the 3D LMA-based full cells exhibit stable cycling in carbonate electrolytes.

Rational Design of Three‐Dimensional Self‐Supporting Structure for Advanced Lithium Metal Anode

“…Moreover, through the combination of metal and metal compounds, the performance of a 3D carbon current collector is further improved. [60] Two-way gradient modification is designed, which is modified by top-down ZnO and bottomup Sn (Figure 6h). [60b] ZnO at the top improves the diffusion coefficient of Li + , and Sn at the bottom leads to the preferential deposition of Li.…”

Facile Replacement Reaction Enables Nano-Ag-Decorated Three-Dimensional Cu Foam as High-Rate Lithium Metal Anode

“…As shown in Figure 2a, the X-ray diffraction (XRD) results further reveal the existence of Ag nanoparticles on Cu foam (PDF #89-3722 and PDF #85-1326), suggesting the practicality of this replacement reaction. 54,55,60 The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images are exhibited in Figure 2b,c, showing smooth surface for bare Cu foam and self-assembled Ag nanoparticles on Cu@Ag foam. Moreover, the uniform dispersion of Ag nanoparticles (the particle size is about 100−200 nm) can be revealed by the homogeneous distribution of Cu and Ag signals in energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) element mappings, revealing the preserved Cu foam skeleton and self-assembled Ag nanoparticles on the Cu surface during the chemical replacement reaction (Figure 2d−f).…”

Challenges and Developments of High Energy Density Anode Materials in Sulfide‐Based Solid‐State Batteries

“…[20] In previous reports, the three-dimensional (3D) current collector with a large surface area has been proven a benign host to reduce the local current density and alleviate the volume expansion of Li metal during cycling in liquid cells. [162][163] However, few reports on the 3D current collector with sulfide SEs due to the limited Li + transport performance. Therefore, constructing lithiophilicity and steady SEI in the current collector is desirable for anode-free anodes.…”