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Air-stable and freestanding lithium alloy/graphene foil as an alternative to lithium metal anodes

Nature Nanotechnology volume 12, pages 993–999 (2017)Cite this article

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Abstract

Developing high-capacity anodes is a must to improve the energy density of lithium batteries for electric vehicle applications. Alloy anodes are one promising option, but without pre-stored lithium, the overall energy density is limited by the low-capacity lithium metal oxide cathodes. Recently, lithium metal has been revived as a high-capacity anode, but faces several challenges owing to its high reactivity and uncontrolled dendrite growth. Here, we show a series of Li-containing foils inheriting the desirable properties of alloy anodes and pure metal anodes. They consist of densely packed LixM (M = Si, Sn, or Al) nanoparticles encapsulated by large graphene sheets. With the protection of graphene sheets, the large and freestanding LixM/graphene foils are stable in different air conditions. With fully expanded LixSi confined in the highly conductive and chemically stable graphene matrix, this LixSi/graphene foil maintains a stable structure and cyclability in half cells (400 cycles with 98% capacity retention). This foil is also paired with high-capacity Li-free V2O5 and sulfur cathodes to achieve stable full-cell cycling.

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Figure 1: Schematic of the microstructure and fabrication process of the LixM/graphene foils.
Figure 2: Characterization of the LixSi/graphene foil.
Figure 3: Stability of the LixSi/graphene foil.
Figure 4: Electrochemical performance of the LixSi/graphene foil.
Figure 5: Characterization of the sulfur electrode and the sulfur batteries.

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Acknowledgements

Y.C. acknowledges the support from the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Office of Vehicle Technologies, Battery Materials Research Program of the US Department of Energy. Y.L. acknowledges the National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship Program.

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Author notes

  1. Jie Zhao and Guangmin Zhou: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, 94305, California, USA

    Jie Zhao, Guangmin Zhou, Kai Yan, Jin Xie, Yuzhang Li, Lei Liao, Yang Jin, Kai Liu, Po-Chun Hsu, Jiangyan Wang & Yi Cui

  2. Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 72 Wenhua Road, Shenyang, 110016, People's Republic of China

    Hui-Ming Cheng

  3. Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute, Tsinghua University, 1001 Xueyuan Road, Shenzhen, 518055, People's Republic of China

    Hui-Ming Cheng

  4. Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, 94025, California, USA

    Yi Cui

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  1. Jie Zhao
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Contributions

J.Z., G.Z. and Y.C. conceived the concept. J.Z. and G.Z. carried out the synthesis and performed materials characterization and electrochemical measurements. J.X., Y.J., L.L., Y.L., P.-C.H. and J.W assisted in the synthesis and characterization of electrode materials. K.L. conducted stress–strain tests. K.Y. and H.-M.C. provided important experimental insights. J.Z., G.Z., K.Y., Y.L., H.-M.C. and Y.C. co-wrote the paper. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yi Cui.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Zhao, J., Zhou, G., Yan, K. et al. Air-stable and freestanding lithium alloy/graphene foil as an alternative to lithium metal anodes. Nature Nanotech 12, 993–999 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2017.129

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