Ahad et al – Cu Current Collector with Binder-Free Lithiophilic Nanowire Coating for High Energy Density Lithium Metal Batteries – Small (2023): 2207902.
Syed Abdul Ahad, Temilade Esther Adegoke, Kevin M. Ryan, and Hugh Geaney*
Department of Chemical Sciences and Bernal Institute
University of Limerick
Limerick V94 T9PX, Ireland
E-mail: hugh.geaney@ul.ie
Corresponding Author: Hugh Geaney (hugh.geaney@ul.ie)
Received: December 19, 2022 Revised: January 16, 2023
Link to Paper: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/smll.202207902
Abstract
Despite significant efforts to fabricate high energy density (ED) lithium (Li) metal anodes, problems such as dendrite formation and the need for excess Li (leading to low N/P ratios) have hampered Li metal battery (LMB) development. Here, the use of germanium (Ge) nanowires (NWs) directly grown on copper (Cu) substrates (Cu-Ge) to induce lithiophilicity and subsequently guide Li ions for uniform Li metal deposition/stripping during electrochemical cycling is reported. The NW morphology along with the formation of the Li15Ge4 phase promotes uniform Li-ion flux and fast charge kinetic, resulting in the Cu-Ge substrate demonstrating low nucleation overpotentials of 10 mV (four times lower than planar Cu) and high Columbic efficiency (CE) efficiency during Li plating/stripping. Within a full-cell configuration, the Cu-Ge@Li – NMC cell delivered a 63.6% weight reduction at the anode level compared to a standard graphite-based anode, with impressive capacity retention and average CE of over 86.5% and 99.2% respectively. The Cu-Ge anodes are also paired with high specific capacity sulfur (S) cathodes, further demonstrating the benefits of developing surface-modified lithiophilic Cu current collectors, which can easily be integrated at the industrial scale.
Schematic Illustration of Ge NW Synthesis on Cu foil and Li Plating Behavior
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