Stabilizing Lithium into Cross-Stacked Nanotube Sheets with an Ultra-High Specific Capacity for Lithium Oxygen Batteries

Abstract

Although lithium–oxygen batteries possess a high theoretical energy density and are considered as promising candidates for next-generation power systems, the enhancement of safety and cycling efficiency of the lithium anodes while maintaining the high energy storage capability remains difficult. Here, we overcome this challenge by cross-stacking aligned carbon nanotubes into porous networks for ultrahigh-capacity lithium anodes to achieve high-performance lithium–oxygen batteries. The novel anode shows a reversible specific capacity of 3656 mAh g −1 , approaching the theoretical capacity of 3861 mAh g −1 of pure lithium. When this anode is employed in lithium–oxygen full batteries, the cycling stability is significantly enhanced, owing to the dendrite-free morphology and stabilized solid–electrolyte interface. This work presents a new pathway to high performance lithium–oxygen batteries towards practical applications by designing cross-stacked and aligned structures for one-dimensional conducting nanomaterials.