Laser-Constructing 3D Copper Current Collector with Crystalline Orientation Selectivity for Stable Lithium Metal Batteries

The practical application of lithium(Li)metal anodes in high-capacity batteries is impeded by the formation of hazardous Li dendrites.To address this challenge,this research presents a novel methodology that combines laser ablation and heat treatment to precisely induce controlled grain growth within laser-structured grooves on copper(Cu)current collectors.Specifically,this approach enhances the prevalence of Cu(100)facets within the grooves,effectively lowering the overpotential for Li nucleation and promoting preferential Li deposition.Unlike approaches that modify the entire surface of collectors,our work focuses on selectively enhancing lithiophilicity within the grooves to mitigate the formation of Li dendrites and exhibit exceptional performance metrics.The half-cell with these collectors maintains a remarkable Coulombic efficiency of 97.42%over 350 cycles at 1 mA cm^(−2).The symmetric cell can cycle stably for 1600 h at 0.5 mA cm^(−2).Furthermore,when integrated with LiFePO4 cathodes,the full-cell configuration demonstrates outstanding capacity retention of 92.39%after 400 cycles at a 1C discharge rate.This study introduces a novel technique for fabricating selective lithiophilic three-dimensional(3D)Cu current collectors,thereby enhancing the performance of Li metal batteries.The insights gained from this approach hold promise for enhancing the performance of all laser-processed 3D Cu current collectors by enabling precise lithiophilic modifications within complex structures.

Tuning dual three-dimensional porous copper/graphite composite to achieve diversified utilization of copper current collector for lithium storage

Graphite anode materials are widely used in commercial lithium-ion batteries;however, the long electron/ion transportation path restricted its high energy storage. In this experiment, we designed a copper/graphite composite with a dual three-dimensional(3 D) continuous porous structure combining used nonsolvent-induced phase separation and heat treatment, in which a large amount of graphite is embedded in the 3 D porous copper/carbon architecture. In the novel structure, not only the electron and Li^(+) transmission performances are improved, but also the space of current collector is fully utilized. Meanwhile,carbonized polyacrylonitrile network stabilizes the interface between graphite and copper matrix. The obtained copper/graphite composite anode has an initial discharge capacity of 524.6 mAh·g^(-1), a holding capacity of350 mAh·g^(-1) and excellent cycle stability(299.3 mAh·g^(-1) after 180 cycles at 0.1 C rate), exhibiting good electrochemical performance. The experimental results show that the mass loading of the copper/graphite composite electrode material is about 4.39 mg·cm^(-2). We also envisage replacing graphite with other high-capacity active materials to fill the current collector, which can provide a reference for the future development of next-generation advanced electrodes.