Accelerating Lithium Deposition Kinetics Via Lithiophilic Ag‐Decorated Graphitic Carbon Nitride Spheres for Stable Lithium Metal Anode

Abstract

This study presents a novel Li metal host material with a unique hollow nano‐spherical structure that incorporates Ag nano‐seeds into a graphitic carbon nitride (g‐C 3 N 4 ) shell layer, referred to as g‐C 3 N 4 @Ag hollow spheres. The g‐C 3 N 4 @Ag spheres provide a managed internal site for Li metal encapsulation and promote stable Li plating. The g‐C 3 N 4 spheres are uniformly coated using polydopamine, which has an adhesive nature, to enhance lithium plating/stripping stability. The strategic presence of Ag nano‐seeds eliminates the nucleation barrier, properly directing Li growth within the hollow spheres. This design facilitates highly reversible and consistent lithium deposition, offering a promising direction for the production of high‐performance lithium metal anodes. These well‐designed g‐C 3 N 4 @Ag hollow spheres ensure stable Li plating/stripping kinetics over more than 500 cycles with a high coulombic efficiency of over 97%. Furthermore, a full cell made using LiNi 0.90 Co 0.07 Mn 0.03 O 2 and Li‐g‐C 3 N 4 @Ag host electrodes demonstrated highly competitive performance over 200 cycles, providing a guide for the implementation of this technology in advanced lithium metal batteries.