Rapid synthesis of large-area and integrated anode current collector via electroless in-situ Sn modification strategy for lithium metal batteries

Lithium metal anode has excellent theoretical capacity which promises to break the energy density bottleneck caused by the low capacity of the conventional graphite anode. However, multi-challenges associated with pure lithium anodes are slowing down the practical application of lithium metal batteries. The development of high-performance current collector (CC) is one of the effective ways to respond. Here, a rapid electroless in-situ Sn modification process is utilized to produce high-performance, large-area (>1200 cm2), ultra-thin (<12 μm), structurally and functionally integrated anode CCs for lithium metal batteries. The lithium affinity of the bare Cu CC is significantly enhanced by a simple soaking treatment for only 3–10 min. The enhancement mechanism based on Li7Sn2 is clarified by the first-principles calculations combined with electrochemical analysis. The best RSN05 CC exhibits impressive Li plating/stripping performance and good adaptability to the major commercialized cathodes (LFP, NCM(811), LCO). Moreover, the enhancement in pouch batteries is preliminarily validated, illustrating the prospects of the RSN05 CC for further applications. The electroless Sn modification process and the RSN05 CC in this work promise to facilitate the continuous production of high-performance anode CCs and accelerate the practical application of lithium metal batteries.