Abstract
Lithium metal has been regarded as the ultimate anode for next-generation rechargeable batteries with high energy density. However, its high reactivity and dendrite growth seriously limit its commercial application, which can be well addressed by realizing uniform Li deposition. Here, we report a facile and scalable one-step vulcanization method to modify commercial Cu foil with lithophilic Cu2S. The in situ formed Cu2S layer can not only promote the homogeneous deposition of Li via its lithophilic nature, but also benefit the formation of a stable solid-electrolyte interphase during initial activation. The Cu2S-modified Cu current collector realizes dendrite-free Li plating/stripping and thus exhibits stable cycling performance with a high Coulombic efficiency, even with a large capacity of 4 mA h cm−2. A full-cell consisting of a Cu2S/Cu-Li anode and a LiFePO4 cathode exhibits greatly improved cycling stability and enhanced Coulombic efficiency, demonstrating the effectiveness and practicability of the proposed Cu2S/Cu foil in the field of rechargeable Li metal batteries.
摘要
金属锂被认为是下一代高能量密度二次电池的终极形式. 但是, 金属锂的高活性和枝晶生长严重限制了其商业化应用. 只有实现锂离子的均匀沉积才能解决相关问题. 本研究通过对商业化铜箔进行简单的一步法硫化处理, 在其表面原位生成一层具有亲锂性的Cu2S修饰层. 该Cu2S层不仅可以利用其亲锂性促进锂离子的均匀沉积, 而且在初始活化过程中有利于形成稳定的固态电解质界面. 在锂沉积/剥离循环过程中, 这种经过修饰的铜箔集流体有效抑制了锂枝晶生长, 即使在4 mA h cm−2的循环条件下, 也能够展现出较高的库仑效率和稳定的循环性能. 将沉积金属锂后的Cu2S/Cu-Li复合负极与LiFePO4正极组装成全电池, 其循环稳定性和库仑效率均大幅度提高, 表明该修饰后的铜箔在二次金属锂电池领域具有良好的应用前景.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2018YFB0905400), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51632001 and 51972131) and Chinese Postdoctoral Science Foundation. We thank the technical support from the Analytical and Testing Center of Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) for material characterizations. We also thank Tang DG for help with XPS analysis from Key Laboratory of Catalytic Conversion and Energy Material Chemistry of Ministry of Education of South-Central University for Nationalities.
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Author contributions Li Z and He D conceived the project. He D designed and engineered the samples. Liao Y, Cheng Z, and Sang X helped with the characterization. He D wrote the paper with support from Li Z and Huang Y. All authors contributed to the general discussion.
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Danqi He is currently a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), China. She received her PhD degree from the State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing of Wuhan University of Technology (WUT), China. Her research focuses on lithium-metal batteries and lithium-sulfur batteries.
Zhen Li received his PhD degree from HUST in 2014. He worked as a R&D engineer at Amperex Technology Limited (ATL) from 2009 to 2011 and worked as a postdoctoral researcher in Nanyang Technological University (NTU) from 2015 to 2018. In 2018, he became a professor of materials science in HUST. His research interests are lithium-ion batteries, lithium-sulfur batteries, and solid-state batteries.
Yunhui Huang received his BS, MS, and PhD degrees from Peking University. From 2002 to 2004, he worked as an associate professor at Fudan University. He then worked with Prof. John B. Goodenough at the University of Texas at Austin for more than three years. In 2008, he became a chair professor of materials science at HUST. His research group works on rechargeable batteries and electrode materials.
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He, D., Liao, Y., Cheng, Z. et al. Facile one-step vulcanization of copper foil towards stable Li metal anode. Sci. China Mater. 63, 1663–1671 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-020-1312-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-020-1312-7