Promoting lithium electrodeposition towards the bottom of 3-D copper meshes in lithium-based batteries

Abstract

Porous and three-dimensional (3-D) copper (Cu) current collectors were extensively developed to suppress dendritic lithium (Li) growth. However, they suffer from predominant electrodeposition on the surface due to the intensive electric-field on the surface, which results in rapid pore-clogging and thick film deposition. This study demonstrates that the addition of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) can promote Li deposition at the selected area where the electric field is inferior, which overall controls the density of Li-electrodeposition throughout the 3-D current collector. We showed that the Au NPs with similar to 28 nmol of concentration were sufficient to enhance the Li deposition on the bottom while mitigating the top-surface Li growth. The desired 3-D porous structures containing the Au NPs improved galvanostatic cyclability in symmetric cells and full cells, which confirmed the effect of a small quantity of Au NPs for 3-D porous current collectors.