Lithiophilic 3D Porous Dealloyed Brass Current Collector Enabling Stable and High-Rate Lithium Metal Batteries

Abstract

The practical application of lithium metal anodes remains hindered by challenges including lithium dendrite growth and volume expansion during cycling. In this study, a three-dimensional porous skeleton was constructed on a brass mesh via chemical dealloying, and the surface was subsequently modified by magnetron sputtering of an aluminum film, yielding an aluminum-modified porous dealloyed brass current collector (denoted as Al@PCu). In symmetric cell tests under galvanostatic cycling conditions (1 mA cm–2, 1 mAh cm–2), the Al@PCu/Li electrode exhibited stable operation for 2000 h with a very low overpotential of 4 mV. When paired with a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathode in full cells, the Al@PCu electrode also delivered excellent cycling stability, retaining 89.11% of its capacity after 300 cycles. Moreover, it demonstrated favorable rate capability, maintaining an average capacity retention of 75.66% even at a high rate of 5 C.