Interface structure regulation of a Ag lithiophilic layer towards uniform lithium nucleation/growth

Abstract

Undesirable lithium dendrite growth directly hinders the development of next-generation high-energy-density lithium metal batteries. Easy and effective realization of uniform lithium nucleation and deposition on copper foils to relieve this problem in a lithium metal anode is a grand challenge. In this study, we have developed a very simple and highly efficient surface engineering strategy, in which a uniform Ag lithiophilic layer directly grows on a common Cu foil based on the spontaneous replacement reaction between Cu atom and Ag⁺ in just 3 min. The evolution of the morphology of the Ag layer could be effectively regulated by controlling the reaction concentration and time. Moreover, the given lithium plating behaviour in the lithiophilic layer was devoted to smooth lithium deposition and stripping with no dendritic growth. As a result, a high coulombic efficiency of approximately 98% was observed over 400 cycles at a current density of 1 mA cm⁻². More significantly, a simple and highly efficient modified strategy on the common Cu foil could greatly boost the stabilization of the Li metal-based anode.