Ant-Nest-like Lithiophilic Host for Long-Life Lithium Metal Anodes

Abstract

The rational design of confined host to tutor Li nucleation and deposition behavior remains a key challenge for the long stability of lithium metal anodes (LMAs), while the scalability and feasibility of the method need to be taken into concern. Herein, a biomimic strategy is designed for tutoring in-depth nucleation and bottom-up Li deposition by composing ant-nest-like lithiophilic hosts for LMAs with light-weight flexible and conductive carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as the framework, table salt (sodium chloride, NaCl) as the washable porous creator, and homogeneously dispersed nano-Si as the nucleation site. It possesses similar optimized structure as ant nests in nature and can provide large and conductive inner volume for Li storage. Combining with the interconnected passways can ensure effective ion compensation like food transport channels for ants, and the well-designed host can take effect as an individual Li anode (5 mA h cm^-2 area Li loading for demonstration) and the record-long stable LMA host can be achieved for over a 2200 h lifespan with minimum volume expansion. Therefore, this biomimic strategy is developed with all commercialized battery materials, and all industry compatible production methods can provide a feasible technical path for the stable, long-cyclability, and reliable host design for LMAs.