Si/ZnO framework: 3D lithiophilic structure for dendrite-free lithium metal batteries

With the continuous development of renewable energy sources, high-energy high-density lithium metal batteries (LMBs) are urgently needed to store the generated energy. However, the applications of current LMBs are severely limited by the formation of lithium dendrites and infinite volume expansion during cycling. Herein, we adopt a simple method to melt and mix a specified proportion of silicon, zinc oxide, and lithium to prepare a Li/Si/ZnO (LiSZ) composite anode. The mixture of Si and ZnO, acting as a lithium-philic nonconductive framework not only serve as a stable lithium "host" during the deposition/stripping process of lithium and reduce the expansion of lithium during cycling, but the Li-Si and Li-Zn alloy induce a uniform deposition of Li+, thereby inducing a uniform deposition of Li. The symmetrical LiSZ battery shows an exceedingly low hysteresis voltage and stable long-cycle performance (more than 900 h). In addition, the full LiSZ battery exhibits excellent rate performance. Thus, significant progress is has been made in developing stable lithium anodes for LMBs. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.