Nitrogen‐Doped Amorphous Zn–Carbon Multichannel Fibers for Stable Lithium Metal Anodes

• Published in: Angewandte Chemie International Edition Vol. 60; no. 15; pp. 8515 - 8520
• Main Authors: Fang, Yongjin, Zeng, Yinxiang, Jin, Qi, Lu, Xue Feng, Luan, Deyan, Zhang, Xitian, Lou, Xiong Wen (David)
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 06.04.2021
• Edition: International ed. in English
• Subjects: Anodes; Carbon; Current density; Dendrites; Deposition; Electrochemical analysis; Electrochemistry; Fibers; hollow nanostructures; lithiophilic sites; Lithium; lithium metal anodes; Local current; macroporous carbon fibers; Nanoparticles; Nitrogen; Nucleation; Zinc; Zn nanoparticles; lithium metal anodes; hollow nanostructures; Zn nanoparticles; lithiophilic sites; macroporous carbon fibers
• ISSN: 1433-7851; 1521-3773; 1521-3773
• DOI: 10.1002/anie.202100471

The application of lithium metal anodes for practical batteries is still impeded by safety issues and low Coulombic efficiency caused mainly by the uncontrollable growth of lithium dendrites. Herein, two types of free‐standing nitrogen‐doped amorphous Zn–carbon multichannel fibers are synthesized as multifunctional hosts for lithium accommodation. The 3D macroporous structures endow effectively reduced local current density, and the lithiophilic nitrogen‐doped carbon and functional Zn nanoparticles serve as preferred deposition sites with low nucleation barriers to guide uniform lithium deposition. As a result, the developed anodes exhibit remarkable electrochemical properties in terms of high Coulombic efficiency for more than 500 cycles at various current densities from 1 to 5 mA cm−2, and symmetric cells show long‐term cycling duration over 2000 h. Moreover, full cells based on the developed anode and a LiFePO4 cathode also demonstrate superior rate capability and stable cycle life. Nitrogen‐doped amorphous Zn–carbon multichannel fibers decorated with carbon cages (denoted as CC‐Zn‐CMFs) have been synthesized as a multifunctional host for lithium metal anodes. With the unique hierarchical hollow architecture and functional composition, these CC‐Zn‐CMFs exhibit enhanced electrochemical properties for lithium metal anodes in terms of high Coulombic efficiency, superior rate capability, and long cycle life.