Long-cycling, fast-charging lithium metal batteries enabled by nickel-carbon composite nanosheet arrays modified lithium metal anodes

Lithium (Li) metal anode, one of the most promising candidates for next-generation rechargeable batteries, has always suffered from uneven Li deposition/stripping. To address this issue, this work designs a novel nickel-carbon composite modified Li metal anode (FNC-NF) by carbonizing fluoride nickel hydroxide nanosheet arrays grown on nickel foam (NF). These electrochemical tests present that the conductive and lithiophilic FNC can effectively restrain the growth of Li dendrites during the cycling of Li deposition/stripping at large capacities up to 10 mAh cm−2. This result is attributed to the featured FNC composition combining a core of nickel hydroxide and a mixed coating of defective carbon and Ni nanoparticles, and the unique hierarchical morphology of the FNC-NF integrating porous NF and vertically aligned FNC nanosheets. Consequently, the FNC-NF presents a stable coulombic efficiency performance after 900 cycles with an average of 99.23% for half cells, a lifespan over 3200 h for symmetric cells at 1 mA cm−2 and 1 mAh cm−2, and a remarkable cycling stability at large current densities of up to 15 mA cm−2 at 1 mAh cm−2. Moreover, the Li||FNC-NF||LiFePO4 full cells show superior capacity retention and cycling stability at 1 C.