Hierarchically Micro/Nanostructured Current Collectors Induced by Ultrafast Femtosecond Laser Strategy for High-Performance Lithium-ion Batteries

Commercial Cu and Al current collectors for lithium-ion batteries(LIBs)possess high electrical conductivity,suitable chemical and electrochemical stability.However,the relatively flat surface of traditional current collectors causes weak bonding strength and poor electrochemical contact between current collectors and electrode materials,resulting in potential detachment of active materials and rapid capacity degradation during extended cycling.Here,we report an ultrafast femtosecond laser strategy to manufacture hierarchical micro/nanostructures on commercial Al and Cu foils as current collectors for high-performance LIBs.The hierarchically micro/nanostructured current collectors(HMNCCs)with high surface area and roughness offer strong adhesion to active materials,fast electronic delivery of entire electrodes,significantly improving reversible capacities and cyclic stability of HMNCCs based LIBs.Consequently,LiNi_(0.5)Co_(0.2)Mn_(0.3)O_(2)(NCM523)cathode with Al HMNCC generated a high reversible capacity after 200 cycles(25%higher than that of cathode with Al CC).Besides,graphite anode with Cu HMNCC also maintained prominent reversible capacity even after 600 cycles.Moreover,the full cell assembled by graphite anode with Cu HMNCC and NCM523 cathode with Al HMNCC achieved high reversible capacity and remarkable cycling stability under industrial-grade mass loading.This study provides promising candidate for achieving high-performance LIBs current collectors.

Review of nanostructured current collectors in lithium-sulfur batteries

Lithium-sulfur （Li-S） batteries are receiving increasing attention because of their high theoretical energy density and the natural abundance of S. However, their practical applications are impeded by the low areal S loading in the cathode and the fatal Li dendrites in the anode of the Li-S cells, which yield an inferior practical energy density and introduce safety concerns, respectively. In this review, we focus on an emerging approach--the nanostructured current collector--to overcome these two critical challenges for Li-S batteries. We describe the general attributes of nanostructured current collectors and examine how these attributes enhance the S utilization with a high S loading and suppress the Li dendrites by regulating the Li-deposition behavior. We present various assembly blocks that have been used for the construction of advanced nanostructured current collectors to build better S cathodes and Li anodes. Finally, we investigate the current challenges and possible solutions regarding the practical applications of nanostructured current collectors in Li-S batteries.