An ultralight lithiophilic framework with Faraday-shielded cages for stable lithium metal anodes

Abstract

The practical application of lithium metal anodes (LMAs) is restricted by some serious issues, such as the infinite volume change and lithium dendrite growth. Herein, an ultralight lithiophilic framework with Faraday-shielded cages (a Li/NCG composite, where NCG denotes a nickel–cobalt oxide nanoflakes-decorated graphitized framework) is designed to realize stable LMAs. Li⁺ ions in the Faraday-shielded cages are immune to the point charge effect during Li⁺ ion plating. The lithiophilic nickel–cobalt oxide framework can effectively regulate Li⁺ ion nucleation behavior to realize a uniform coaxial deposition along the framework fiber. Moreover, the conductive carbon framework has the properties of ultra-light density and adequate space to store Li metal. Attributed to these characteristics, the Li/NCG composite anode exhibits a long-term life span (2000 h) at 1 mA cm⁻² in symmetric cells.