Stable Lithium Metal Batteries in Ester Electrolytes Enabled by High-Entropy Alloy-Modified Graphitized Carbon Paper...

Lithium metal batteries hold immense potential for high-energy applications, yet they face significant challenges such as lithium dendrite, dead lithium formation, and volume expansion. Herein, an innovative strategy is proposed to address these issues. Specifically, a high-entropy alloy (HEA) composed of Mg, Ag, Cu, Mn, and Ni is synthesized on graphitized carbon paper via a simple impregnation and high-temperature thermal reduction method, serving as the anode for lithium metal batteries. The synergistic effects of HEA nanoparticles, LiC₆, and a three-dimensional (3D) collector significantly enhance the anode's lithiophilicity, effectively guiding a uniform lithium nucleation process. Consequently, symmetric cells employing this anode exhibit outstanding cycling stability even in ester electrolytes, sustaining operation for over 2400 h at 0.5 mA cm^-2/1 mAh cm^-2 and exceeding 1000 h at 1 mA cm^-2/1 mAh cm^-2. When paired with an NCM-811 cathode, the battery exhibits a coulombic efficiency of 99.6% after 200 cycles at 0.5 C and 99.8% after 300 cycles at 1 C. These findings demonstrate that designing amphiphilic lithium sites on 3D collectors is an effective approach for optimizing lithium metal battery anodes, thereby pointing to new directions for the future development of lithium metal batteries.