Highly lithiophilic Ti3C2Tx-Mxene anchored on a flexible carbon foam scaffolds as the basis for a dendrite-free lithium metal anode

Abstract

We report the fabrication of a lithiophilic Ti₃C₂T_x MXene-modified carbon foam (Ti₃C₂T_x-MX@CF) for the production of highly-stable LMBs that regulates Li nucleation behavior and reduces the volume change of a lithium metal anode (LMA). The 3D CF skeleton with a high specific surface area not only reduces the local current density to avoiding concentrated polarization, but also provides enough space to absorb the volume expansion during cycling. The excellent lithiophilicity of Ti₃C₂T_x-MX produced by its abundant functional groups reduces the Li nucleation overpotential, guides uniform Li deposition without the formation of Li dendrites, and maintains a stable SEI on the anode surface. Consequently, a Li infiltrated Ti₃C₂T_x-MX@CF symmetrical cell has an excellent cycling stability for more than 2 400 h with a low overpotential of 9 mV at a current density of 4 mA cm^-2 and has a capacity of 1 mA h cm^-2. Furthermore, a Li- Ti₃C₂T_x-MX@C||NCM111 full cell has a capacity of 129.6 mA h g^-1 even after 330 cycles at 1 C, demonstrating the advantage of this method in constructing stable LMAs.