Surfactant-Assisted Synthesis of High Energy {010} Facets Beneficial to Li-Ion Transport Kinetics with Layered LiNi_0.6Co_0.2Mn_0.2O₂

High energy {010} facets are favorable for Li⁺ transport in a layered Ni-rich LiNi_0.6Co_0.2Mn_0.2O₂ cathode through two-dimensional channels that are perpendicular to the <i>c</i> axis. However, those planes can hardly be maintained during the synthesis of layered cathodes. Therefore, we provide a strategy to use appropriate surface active agents which can alter the surface free energy by reducing surface tension directly. Here, a novel self-assembled 3D flower-like hierarchical LiNi_0.6Co_0.2Mn_0.2O₂ is formed with the help of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and those high energy facets are preserved. Due to the unique surface architectures which would lead to the fast ion transport kinetics as current expands to 100 times (from 0.1 to 10 C), the capacity decay only about 23.4%. Furthermore, full cells assembled against Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ are constructed with a capacity retention of 80.61% at 1 C charge/discharge. This study could show a promising material model for the preferred orientation active planes and higher Li⁺ transport kinetic

Constructing Three-Dimensional Flexible Lithiophilic Scaffolds with Bi₂O₃ Nanosheets toward Stable Li Metal Anodes

The practical application of lithium metal batteries (LMBs) is obstructed by the uncontrollable dendrite growth and large volume change. Herein, we construct a flexible carbon cloth modified with Bi2O3 nanosheets (Bi2O3/CC) as a three-dimensional (3D) lithiophilic skeleton to regulate uniform Li nucleation and deposition. Benefiting from the initial lithiation, dense lithiophilic Li3Bi layers with lithium conductor Li2O (Li3Bi/Li2O) are in-situ-formed through conversion and alloying reactions, which can promote adsorption ability of lithium and improve the speed of Li+ transport according to DFT calculations, thus boosting homogeneous Li plating/stripping behavior. Meanwhile, the conductive 3D structure effectively suppresses Li dendrite formation by reducing the local current density and eliminates volume change. Consequently, the Bi2O3/CC facilitates a high Coulombic efficiency and dendrite-free morphology, near-zero volume change, and superior cyclic stability over 2400 h at 1 mA cm–2 with an ultralow overpotential of 11 mV. Notably, there is no obvious dendritic morphology in Bi2O3/CC even under an ultrahigh areal capacity of 20 mAh cm–2. Moreover, the Li@Bi2O3/CC-LiFePO4 full cell also achieves outstanding cycling performance and rate capability, shedding light on the facile design of the 3D lithiophilic host for advanced lithium-metal anodes