Infiltrating lithium into carbon cloth decorated with zinc oxide arrays for dendrite-free lithium metal anode

Lithium metal anode for batteries has attracted extensive attentions, but its application is restricted by the hazardous dendritic Li growth and dead Li formation. To address these issues, a novel Li anode is developed by infiltrating molten Li metal into conductive carbon cloth decorated with zinc oxide arrays. In carbonate-based electrolyte, the symmetric cell shows no short circuit over 1,500 h at 1 mA·cm−2, and stable voltage profiles at 3 mA·cm−2 for ∼ 300 h cycling. A low overpotential of ∼ 243 mV over 350 cycles at a high current density of 10 mA·cm−2 is achieved, compared to the seriously fluctuated voltage and fast short circuit in the cell using bare Li metal. Meanwhile, the asymmetric cell withstands 1,000 cycles at 10 C (1 C = 167 mAh·g−1) compared to the 210 cycles for the cell using bare Li anode. The excellent performance is attributed to the well-regulated Li plating/stripping driven from the formation of LiZn alloy on the wavy carbon fibers, resulting in the suppression of dendrite growth and pulverization of the Li electrode during cycling.