Two-dimensional molecular brush-functionalized porous bilayer composite separators toward ultrastable high-current density lithium metal anodes

Abstract

Lithium metal batteries have been considerably limited by the problems of uncontrolled dendritic lithium formation and the highly reactive nature of lithium with electrolytes. Herein, we have developed functional porous bilayer composite separators by simply blade-coating polyacrylamide-grafted graphene oxide molecular brushes onto commercial polypropylene separators. Our functional porous bilayer composite separators integrate the lithiophilic feature of hairy polyacrylamide chains and fast electrolyte diffusion pathways with the excellent mechanical strength of graphene oxide nanosheets and thus enable molecular-level homogeneous and fast lithium ionic flux on the surfaces of electrodes. As a result, dendrite-free uniform lithium deposition with a high Coulombic efficiency (98%) and ultralong-term reversible lithium plating/stripping (over 2600 h) at a high current density (2 mA cm⁻²) are achieved for lithium metal anodes. Remarkably, lithium metal anodes with an unprecedented stability of more than 1900 h cycling at an ultrahigh current density of 20 mA cm⁻² are demonstrated.

The authors use polyacrylamide grafted graphene oxide as a molecular brush to coat the commercial polypropylene separator. The bilayer design combines lithiophilicity chemistry and high mechanical strength, rendering high performance Li metal anodes and offering a strategy for the design of separators.