A Lightweight 3D Cu Nanowire Network with Phosphidation Gradient as Current Collector for High-Density Nucleation and Stable Deposition of Lithium

Chen Zhang; Ruiyang Lyu; Wei Lv; Huan Li; Wei Jiang; Jia Li; Sichen Gu; Guangmin Zhou; Zhijia Huang; Yunbo Zhang; Junqiao Wu; Quan-Hong Yang; Feiyu Kang

doi:10.1002/adma.201904991

A Lightweight 3D Cu Nanowire Network with Phosphidation Gradient as Current Collector for High-Density Nucleation and Stable Deposition of Lithium

Adv Mater. 2019 Nov;31(48):e1904991. doi: 10.1002/adma.201904991. Epub 2019 Sep 24.

Authors

Chen Zhang¹, Ruiyang Lyu², Wei Lv², Huan Li^{3

4

5}, Wei Jiang², Jia Li², Sichen Gu², Guangmin Zhou¹, Zhijia Huang¹, Yunbo Zhang¹, Junqiao Wu^{1

6}, Quan-Hong Yang^{3

4}, Feiyu Kang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Shenzhen Environmental Science and New Energy Technology Engineering Laboratory, Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute (TBSI), Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, 518055, China.
² Engineering Laboratory for Functionalized Carbon Materials and Shenzhen Key Laboratory for Graphene-Based Materials, Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, 518055, China.
³ Nanoyang Group, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China.
⁴ Joint School of National University of Singapore and Tianjin University, International Campus of Tianjin University, Binhai New City, Fuzhou, 350207, China.
⁵ School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, 5005, Australia.
⁶ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.

PMID: 31549760
DOI: 10.1002/adma.201904991

Abstract

Lithium metal anodes with high energy density are important for further development of next-generation batteries. However, inhomogeneous Li deposition and dendrite growth hinder their practical utilization. 3D current collectors are widely investigated to suppress dendrite growth, but they usually occupy a large volume and increase the weight of the system, hence decreasing the energy density. Additionally, the nonuniform distribution of Li ions results in low utilization of the porous structure. A lightweight, 3D Cu nanowire current collector with a phosphidation gradient is reported to balance the lithiophilicity with conductivity of the electrode. The phosphide gradient with good lithiophilicity and high ionic conductivity enables dense nucleation of Li and its steady deposition in the porous structure, realizing a high pore utilization. Specifically, the homogenous deposition of Li leads to the formation of an oriented texture on the electrode surface at high capacities. A high mass loading (≈44 wt%) of Li with a capacity of 3 mAh cm^-2 and a high average Coulombic efficiency of 97.3% are achieved. A lifespan of 300 h in a symmetrical cell is obtained at 2 mA cm^-2 , implying great potential to stabilize lithium metal.

Keywords: current collector; dendrite; lithium deposition; lithium metal anodes; phosphidized Cu nanowire.

Abstract

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