Oxide Film Efficiently Suppresses Dendrite Growth in Aluminum-Ion Battery

Aluminum metal foil is the optimal choice as an anode material for aluminum-ion batteries for its key advantages such as high theoretical capacity, safety, and low cost. However, the metallic nature of aluminum foil is very likely to induce severe dendrite growth with further electrode disintegration and cell failure, which is inconsistent with previous reports. Here, we discover that it is aluminum oxide film that efficiently restricts the growth of crystalline Al dendrite and thus improves the cycling stability of Al anode. The key role of surficial aluminum oxide film in protecting Al metal anode lies in decreasing the nucleation sites, controlling the metallic dendrite growth, and preventing the electrode disintegration. The defect sites in aluminum oxide film provide channels for electrolyte infiltration and further stripping/depositing. Attributed to such a protective aluminum oxide film, the Al-graphene full cells can attain up to 45 000 stable cycles.