3D stable hosts with controllable lithiophilic architectures for high-rate and high-capacity lithium metal anodes

Abstract Stable hosts containing pre-stored metallic lithium (Li) are typically used to tackle irregular dendrite formation and infinite relative volume changes of lithium metal anodes. In this sense, oversimplified molten Li infusion strategies have been widely proposed to build lithiophilic architectures with uncontrollable amount and configuration of metallic Li in obtained hosts. In this work, tin oxide (SnO2) deposited Ni foam (SNF) with superior molten Li wettability is employed to construct two distinct lithiophilic architectures namely, Li coated SNF skeletons and Li infiltrated SNF frameworks. The cycling stability and dendritic behavior of these lithiophilic architectures are systematically compared. Both of these lithiophilic architectures significantly outperformed bare Li foils in terms of cycling performance and electrode dimension stability. The fully covered lithiophilic host with Li infiltrated SNF frameworks shows much better cycling stability and lower hysteresis than the porous lithiophilic host with Li coated skeletons, especially at high current densities and large stripping/plating capacities. In full-cell configurations, the batteries based on Li infiltrated SNF frameworks also show significantly higher rate capabilities than Li coated SNF skeletons counterpart. Our results provide a better understanding to design stable lithiophilic hosts for high-rate and high-capacity lithium metal anodes.