Exchange of Li and AgNO3 Enabling Stable 3D Lithium Metal Anodes with Embedded Lithophilic Nanoparticles and a Solid Electrolyte Interphase Inducer.

Three-dimensional (3D) current collectors can effectively mitigate the volumetric expansion of working lithium metal anodes (LMAs). However, the practical utilization of 3D current collectors for lithium metal batteries remains unsatisfactory because of inhomogeneous deposition of lithium ions and an unstable solid electrolyte interphase (SEI). Herein, a facile method based on the exchange reaction between Li and AgNO3 is exploited to embed Ag nanoparticles (NPs) and LiNO3 in a carbon paper (ALCP@Li). The Ag NPs act as a seed for even lithium deposition inside the carbon matrix by virtue of their excellent lithiophilicity. Simultaneously, LiNO3 plays an effective role in stabilizing LMAs by evolving a robust N-rich SEI. As a result, such 3D LMAs show a high Coulombic efficiency in half-cells (200 cycles, 99% at 1 mA cm-2, 1 mAh cm-2) and a low overpotential (60 mV). When paired with commercial thick NCM622 and LiFePO4 cathodes, the 3D LMA-based full cells exhibit stable cycling in carbonate electrolytes.