Covalent Triazine Based Frameworks with Donor-Donor-π-Acceptor Structures for Dendrite-Free Lithium Metal Batteries

The appearance of disordered lithium dendrites and fragile solid electrolyte interfaces (SEI) significantly hinder the serviceability of lithium metal batteries. Herein, guided by theoretical predictions, a multi-component covalent triazine framework with partially electronegative channels (4C-TA_0.5TF_0.5-CTF) is incorporated as a protective layer to modulate the interface stability of the lithium metal batteries. Notably, the 4C-TA_0.5TF_0.5-CTF with optimized electronic structure at the molecular level by fine-tuning the local acceptor-donor functionalities not only enhances the intermolecular interaction thereby providing larger dipole moment and improved crystallinity and mechanical stress, but also facilitates the beneficial effect of lithiophilic sites (C-F bonds, triazine cores, C=N linkages and aromatic rings) to further regulate the migration of Li⁺ and achieve a uniform lithium deposition behavior as determined by various in-depth in/ex situ characterizations. Due to the synergistic effect of multi-component organic functionalities, the 4C-TA_0.5TF_0.5-CTF modified full cells perform significantly better than the common two/three-component 2C-TA-CTF and 3C-TF-CTF electrodes, delivering an excellent capacity of 116.3 mAh g^-1 (capacity retention ratio: 86.8 %) after 1000 cycles at 5 C and improved rate capability. This work lays a platform for the prospective molecular design of improved organic framework relative artificial SEI for highly stable lithium metal batteries.