Inter-layer-calated Thin Li Metal Electrode with Improved Battery Capacity Retention and Dendrite Suppression

An inter-layer-calated thin Li metal (ILC-Li) electrode using nondelaminated 2D Ti ₃C ₂T _x MXene stacks (15 μm) coated on a thin Li host (30 μm) was developed. The excellent electrical conductivity and expanded interlayer space of the MXene provide a fast e ^-/Li ⁺ transport while the layer limits the Li growth along the perpendicular direction, thus largely mitigating the dendrite growth. The highly reversible Li deposition/extraction greatly reduces the dead lithium and electrolyte consumption by forming a thin solid-electrolyte-interphase (SEI) layer. A small overpotential of less than 135 mV in symmetric cells was achieved after >1050 cycles at 10 mA cm ^-2 and 10 mAh cm ^-2. In a full cell, the battery exhibited an improved capacity retention when compared with Li foil, particularly with lean electrolyte of 2.5 μL mAh ^-1, thus leading to a high energy density up to 366.6 Wh/kg. The current approach is manufacture scalable, which displays promising potentials in lithium ion batteries.