Constructing nanoporous Ni foam current collectors for stable lithium metal anodes

Abstract Lithium metal, as the most ideal anode material for high energy density batteries, has been researched for several decades years. However, the dendrite formation and large volume change during repetitive lithium plating/stripping lead to a serious safety issue and impede the practical application of lithium metal anode. Herein, a nanoporous Ni foam current collector with high surface area and surface flaws is constructed via a facile oxidation-reduction method. The inherent macropore structure of Ni foam can partly accommodate the volume variation during Li plating/stripping. The well-distributed nanopores on the skeleton of Ni foam can effectively reduce the local current density, regulate the uniform lithium nucleation and deposition with homogenous distribution of Li+ flux. Moreover, the surface flaws induce the formation of ring Li structures at initial nucleation/deposition processes and concave Li metal spontaneously formed based on the ring Li structures during cycling, which can direct the even Li plating/stripping. Therefore, highly stable Coulombic efficiency is achieved at 1 mA cm−2 for 200 cycles. The symmetrical cell, based on the nanoporous Ni foam current collector, presents long lifespans of 1200 and 700 h respectively at different current densities of 0.5 and 1 mA cm-2 without short circuit. In addition, the LiFePO4 full cell, with the Li metal anode based on the nanoporous Ni foam current collector, shows excellent cycling performance at 1C for 300 cycles and rate performance.