As a next-generation anode material for lithium batteries, Li metal anode suffers from inherent drawbacks such as infinite volume expansion and uneven Li plating/stripping. Herein, we propose a lightweight lithiophilic Prussian blue analogue (PBA) with honeycomb-like structure on Cu foam by self-assembly method to address these issues. The unique honeycomb-like architecture could provide enlarged surface areas and abundant deposition sites for homogenizing Li+ flux during Li plating. Consequently, the elaborate PBA-decorated Cu foam current collector enables long-term (1800 h) reversible plating/stripping behavior and an observably improved Coulombic efficiency (98.3% after 350 cycles). The concept of the direct self-assembly synthesis method on metal foam provides new insights into the design of a lightweight 3-dimensional current collector for Li metal anode.
Keywords: Cu current collector; Li metal anode; Prussian blue analogue; honeycomb-like structure; self-assembly method.