MXene-modified conductive framework as a universal current collector for dendrite-free lithium and zinc metal anode

Rechargeable metal batteries such as non-aqueous Li metal batteries and aqueous Zn metal batteries have received increasing attention due to the benefits of the high-energy metal anode. However, the dendric growth on the metal anode extremely leads to restricted cycling performance and potential safety issues. Herein, the MXene-modified conductive framework (MCF) is designed and fabricated as a universal current collector of anode for non-aqueous Li metal batteries and aqueous Zn metal batteries to suppress the dendric Li and Zn growth. The MCF exhibits the merits of good lithiophilicity and zincophilicity, enables an easy Li/Zn nucleation process, and possesses high plating/stripping reversibility. After plating Li/Zn, MCF@Li and MCF@Zn realize a dendrite-free surface, facilitating Li/Zn plating/stripping kinetics. The MCF@Li and MCF@Zn symmetric cell shows a low overpotential of 13 mV at 1 mA cm(-2) after 900 cycles and 64 mV at 5 mA cm(-2) after 750 cycles (1 mAh cm(-2)), respectively. Furthermore, the nonaqueous MCF@Li parallel to LiFePO4 full cells and the aqueous MCF@Zn parallel to active carbon capacitors are assembled and present stable cycling ability and improved rate performance with low polarization. This work provides a universal current collector strategy to meet the requirements of non-aqueous and aqueous metal anodes, which may inspire more designs for metal-based energy storage systems. (C) 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

In this study, MXene-modified conductive framework (MCF) was designed and fabricated as a universal current collector for non-aqueous Li metal batteries and aqueous Zn metal batteries to suppress the dendric growth of Li and Zn. The experimental results show that MCF@Li and MCF@Zn make the plating/stripping process of Li/Zn easier, and improve the cycling performance and rate performance.