Highly lithiophilic and uniform Co-MOF-derived ultrathin Co3O4 nanoarrays enable dendrite-free lithium metal anode

Reviving lithium (Li) metal anode as the ultimate alternative for high-energy-density batteries has reached consensus in contemporary society. However, its commercial applications have long been seriously impended by uncontrollable dendritic growth and infinite volume change. Herein, we design a highly lithiophilic and uniform ultrathin Co3O4 (uCo3O4) nanoarrays layer assembled on the commercial Ni foam (uCo3O4@NF) as a host for Li metal to address above issues. It is demonstrated that the uniform uCo3O4 nanoarrays layer with regular array structure and abundant pores can effectively mitigate the volume expansion and decreases local current density by homogenizing Li-ions flux. Benefiting from high adsorption energy and low migration barrier of uCo3O4 to Li-ions, "bottom-top" deposition can be achieved, with confined nucleation on the Ni foam at the bottom and oriented growth along uCo3O4 nanosheets. As a consequence, uCo3O4@NF delivers a high 96.5 % of Coulombic efficiency over 260 cycles and an ultra-long lifespan of 1100 h with a low voltage hysteresis of ∼22 mV in symmetric cell at current density of 1 mA cm−2 with capacity of 1 mAh cm−2. This work paves a new way for the design of superior anode materials in high-performance lithium-metal batteries.