Dendrite-free lithium metal anode with lithiophilic interphase from hierarchical frameworks by tuned nucleation

Abstract In the development of rechargeable Li metal batteries, current collectors with high porosity, rational pore structure and lithiophilic skeleton are essentially needed to suppress Li dendrite and accommodate the volume variation. Herein, 3D hierarchical porous collector activated from chemical dealloying of brass mesh is elaborately decorated with highly lithiophilic Sn layer via electroless plating method for dendrite-free Li metal anode. During Li plating process, the nucleation overpotential is remarkably reduced with the in-situ electrochemically generated Li–Sn alloy, realizing uniform Li nucleation/growth. Meanwhile, unique hierarchical porous structure with a high porosity of 60.2% ensures well dispersed current density for homogeneous Li deposition and accommodation. As expected, a high coulombic efficiency above 98% for 240 cycles at 1 ​mA ​cm−2 and a prolonged lifespan of symmetrical cells for 800 ​h ​at 1 ​mA ​cm−2 with lower polarization are achieved, which further renders the LiFePO4 based full cells with improved capacity retention up to 92.9% after 200 cycles at 0.5C. This work proposes a highly effective strategy to realize dendrite-free Li metal anode.