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Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanofibers on Cu Foil as a 3D Current Collector for Reversible Li Plating/Stripping toward High‐Performance Li–S Batteries
Author(s) -
Chen Yazhou,
Elangovan Ayyappan,
Zeng Danli,
Zhang Yunfeng,
Ke Hanzhong,
Li Jun,
Sun Yubao,
Cheng Hansong
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
advanced functional materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.069
H-Index - 322
eISSN - 1616-3028
pISSN - 1616-301X
DOI - 10.1002/adfm.201906444
Subject(s) - materials science , current collector , faraday efficiency , anode , stripping (fiber) , cathode , current density , electrolyte , plating (geology) , chemical engineering , foil method , composite material , electrode , electrical engineering , chemistry , physics , quantum mechanics , geophysics , geology , engineering
A vertically aligned carbon nanofiber (VACNF) array with unique conically stacked graphitic structure directly grown on a planar Cu current collector (denoted as VACNF/Cu) is used as a high‐porosity 3D host to overcome the commonly encountered issues of Li metal anodes. The excellent electrical conductivity and highly active lithiophilic graphitic edge sites facilitate homogenous coaxial Li plating/stripping around each VACNF and forming a uniform solid electrolyte interphase. The high specific surface area effectively reduces the local current density and suppresses dendrite growth during the charging/discharging processes. Meanwhile, this open nanoscale vertical 3D structure eliminates the volume changes during Li plating/stripping. As a result, highly reversible Li plating/stripping with high coulombic efficiency is achieved at various current densities. A low voltage hysteresis of 35 mV over 500 h in symmetric cells is achieved at 1 mA cm −2 with an areal Li plating capacity of 2 mAh cm −2 , which is far superior to the planar Cu current collector. Furthermore, a Li–S battery using a S@PAN cathode and a lithium‐plated VACNF/Cu (VACNF/Cu@Li) anode with slightly higher capacity (2 mAh cm −2 ) exhibits an excellent rate capability and high cycling stability with no capacity fading over 600 cycles.