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Lithium (Li) metal is the ultimate anode choice for next generation high energy density batteries. However, the high nucleation energy barrier and nonuniform electric field distribution, as well as huge volume expansion, lead to the uncontrollable growth of Li dendrites and poor utilization of Li metal, which hinders its practical application. Herein, titanium dioxide/cuprous oxide (TiO2/Cu2O) heterostructure is constructed on the rimous skeleton of Cu mesh, and the heterostructure decorated rimous Cu mesh (H-CM) can act as both current collector and host for dendrite-free Li metal anode. The TiO2/Cu2O heterostructure realizes selective Li nucleation by nano TiO2 and then induces fast and uniform Li conduction with the aid of heterostructure interface and nano Cu2O contributing to dendrite-free Li deposition. While the internal and external space of rimous skeletons in H-CM is used to accommodate the deposited Li and buffer its volume change. Therefore, the cycling reversibility of the derived Li metal anode in H-CM is improved to a high Coulombic efficiency of 98.8% for more than 350 cycles at a current density of 1 mA·cm−2, and 1,000 h (equals to 500 cycles) stable repeated Li plating/stripping can be operated in a symmetric cell. Furthermore, full cells with limited Li anode and high loading LiFePO4 cathode present excellent cycling and rate performances.


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TiO2/Cu2O heterostructure enabling selective and uniform lithium deposition towards stable lithium metal anodes

Show Author's information Lingyan Ruan1,2Xianying Qin1,3( )Kui Lin1,2Zijin Yang1,2Qiuchan Cai1,2Tong Li1,2Fangting Wu1,2Feiyu Kang1,2Baohua Li1( )
Shenzhen Key Laboratory on Power Battery Safety Research and Shenzhen Geim Graphene Center, Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, Shenzhen 518055, China
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Shenzhen Graphene Innovation Center Co. Ltd., Shenzhen 518107, China

Abstract

Lithium (Li) metal is the ultimate anode choice for next generation high energy density batteries. However, the high nucleation energy barrier and nonuniform electric field distribution, as well as huge volume expansion, lead to the uncontrollable growth of Li dendrites and poor utilization of Li metal, which hinders its practical application. Herein, titanium dioxide/cuprous oxide (TiO2/Cu2O) heterostructure is constructed on the rimous skeleton of Cu mesh, and the heterostructure decorated rimous Cu mesh (H-CM) can act as both current collector and host for dendrite-free Li metal anode. The TiO2/Cu2O heterostructure realizes selective Li nucleation by nano TiO2 and then induces fast and uniform Li conduction with the aid of heterostructure interface and nano Cu2O contributing to dendrite-free Li deposition. While the internal and external space of rimous skeletons in H-CM is used to accommodate the deposited Li and buffer its volume change. Therefore, the cycling reversibility of the derived Li metal anode in H-CM is improved to a high Coulombic efficiency of 98.8% for more than 350 cycles at a current density of 1 mA·cm−2, and 1,000 h (equals to 500 cycles) stable repeated Li plating/stripping can be operated in a symmetric cell. Furthermore, full cells with limited Li anode and high loading LiFePO4 cathode present excellent cycling and rate performances.

Keywords: lithium metal anode, dendrite-free, titanium dioxide/cuprous oxide (TiO2/Cu2O) heterostructure, Cu mesh, selective deposition

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Publication history

Received: 12 July 2022
Revised: 01 September 2022
Accepted: 18 September 2022
Published: 04 November 2022
Issue date: April 2023

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© Tsinghua University Press 2022

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51872157 and 52072208), Fundamental Research Project of Shenzhen (No. JCYJ20190808153609561), Local Innovative and Research Teams Project of Guangdong Pearl River Talents Program (No. 2017BT01N111), and Support Plan for Shenzhen Manufacturing Innovation Center (No. 20200627215553988). Authors thank the Materials and Devices Testing Center of Tsinghua University Shenzhen International Graduate School.

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