Uniform lithium deposition guided by Au nanoparticles in vertical-graphene/carbon-cloth skeleton for dendrite-free and stable lithium metal anode

Owing to the high electrochemical reactivity and infinite volume expansion of lithium metal anode, the uncontrollable lithium dendrite growth drags the lithium metal anode out of the real application for a long time. Herein, a heterogeneous seed layer of Au nanoparticles (NPs) is uniformly deposited on the 3D porous vertical graphene nanosheets on carbon cloth (Au-VG/CC) to construct a lithiophilic surface, achieving a smooth and dendrite-free morphology. As a result, Au-VG/CC electrode delivers a small voltage hysteresis of 67.2 mV and a long cycling life of more than 500 h at a high current density of 5 mA cm−2 with 5 mAh cm−2. Results of XRD and in-situ transmission electron microscopy indicate that the formed lithiophilic layer is Li3Au which can guide the lithium deposition. Moreover, a full battery assembled with Li@Au-VG/CC as the anode and LiFePO4 as the cathode delivers 77.3 mAh g−1 at 100 mA g−1 after 200 cycles. Porous 3D Au-VG/CC nanostructure was designed and further adopted as the stable host of lithium metal anodes. Confirmed by the in-situ TEM characterization, the lithiophilicity is originated from the formed Li3Au alloy which can guide Li deposition with reduced nucleation overpotential, enabling a dendrite free deposition morphology and long cycle stability. [Display omitted]