Ultralight Porous Cu Nanowire Aerogels as Stable Hosts for High Li-Content Metal Anodes

Using porous copper (Cu) as the host is one of the most effective approaches to stabilize Li metal anodes. However, the most widely used porous Cu hosts usually account for the excessive mass proportion of composite anodes, which seriously decreases the energy density of Li metal batteries. Herein, an ultralight porous Cu nanowire aerogel (UP-Cu) is reported as the Li metal anode host to accommodate a high mass loading of Li content of 77 wt %. Specifically, the Li/UP-Cu electrode displays a satisfactory gravimetric capacity of 2715 mAh g–1, which is higher than that of the most reported Li metal composite anodes. The UP-Cu host achieves a high Coulombic efficiency of ∼98.9% after 250 cycles in the half cell and exceptional electrochemical stability under high-current-density and deep-plating-stripping conditions in the symmetrical cell. The Li/UP-Cu|LiFePO4 battery displays a specific capacity of 102 mAh g–1 at 5 C for 5000 cycles. The Li/UP-Cu|LiFePO4 pouch cell achieves a significantly high capacity of 146.3 mAh g–1 with a high capacity retention of 95.83% for 360 cycles. This work provides a lightweight porous host to stabilize Li-metal anodes and maintain their high mass-specific capacity.