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Published on: November 10, 2014
Diboron Carbon Current Collector for Stable Anode-Free Lithium Metal Batteries.
Rizwan Ur Rehman Sagar1, Muhammad Waseem Fazal1, Artur Durajski2
1Institute for Frontier Materials, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, VIC 3216, Australia.
Nano Letters
|June 10, 2026
Summary
Mechanochemically synthesized diboron carbon (B2C) functions as a superior current collector in anode-free lithium metal batteries (ALMBs). Carbon-rich B2C enables stable cycling and high efficiency, outperforming traditional copper collectors.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Electrochemistry
- Energy Storage
Background:
- Anode-free lithium metal batteries (ALMBs) offer high energy density but face challenges with uniform lithium plating/stripping.
- Conventional copper current collectors (Cu-CC) exhibit poor lithiophilicity, leading to inefficient Li plating and stripping.
Purpose of the Study:
- To report the first mechanochemical synthesis of diboron carbon (B2C).
- To investigate the tunable electrical conductivity and electrochemical performance of B2C as a functional current collector in ALMBs.
Main Methods:
- Mechanochemical synthesis of diboron carbon (B2C).
- Tuning electrical conductivity by adjusting carbon content in B2C.
- Electrochemical evaluation of B2C as a current collector in ALMBs.
Main Results:
- Achieved tunable electrical conductivity in B2C from ~0.01-0.05 S cm-1 to ~0.23-0.28 S cm-1 with increased carbon content.
- Demonstrated that carbon-rich B2C supports reversible Li plating/stripping, minimizing Li loss.
- Anode-free full cells utilizing C-rich B2C achieved ~500 stable cycles with ~94% average Coulombic efficiency, surpassing Cu-CC.
Conclusions:
- C-rich B2C is an effective, theoretically predicted material synthesized via mechanochemical methods.
- Carbon-rich B2C serves as a high-performance alternative to conventional Cu-CC in ALMBs.
- This work paves the way for advanced current collectors in next-generation batteries.
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