Controlled deposition of Li metal

Metallic lithium (Li°) is an attractive anode material for high-energy lithium batteries. However, its commercial applications in secondary batteries, such as the lithium-sulfur and lithium-oxygen batteries, are hindered with the uncontrolled growth of detrimental Li dendrites during Li plating and the random fracture of the dendrites during Li stripping. Herein, we show that the deposited Li prefers to stay in the pits on a micro-patterned titanium (Ti) foil. In light of this, micro-/nano-architectured porous silicon (Si) and zinc oxide (ZnO) electrodes were employed and proved equally effective in guiding the deposition of Li metal. These findings demonstrate that the electrochemical activity of the porous electrode becomes less important than the specially designed porous structure of the electrode in the position of lithium deposition. Therefore, designing electrodes with appropriate micro-/nano-architecture can be a promising strategy for controlling the deposition of the Li metal and strictly confining the Li dendrites (if there are) within the pits by constructing anodes with properly designed architectures.