Recent developments in current collectors for lithium metal anodes

Abstract

Lithium-ion batteries have been widely used in recent decades. However, the anodes being used at present cannot meet the growing demands of the electronics market. Among all the alternative anode materials, lithium is emerging as an advanced anode owing to its high theoretical specific capacity and low operating potential. However, lithium anodes suffer from severe lithium dendrite growth, unstable solid electrolyte interphases, and sluggish kinetics. To address these problems, various strategies have been proposed for the development of practical lithium metal anodes. As reported in previous studies, current collectors play a critical role in facilitating uniform lithium nucleation and deposition, building a stable solid-electrolyte interphase, and improving the dynamics. In this paper, we review the recent developments in current collectors for lithium-ion batteries, retrospect recent research results, and investigate possible future research directions.