Semi-tubular carbon film for stable lithium metal anodes and methods of manufacture thereof
A method of forming a battery electrode by forming, on a first substrate, a polymer template comprising interconnected polymer fibers, forming, on the polymer template, a carbon coating to form a carbon-coated polymer template, removing the carbon-coated polymer template from the first substrate, subsequent to removing the carbon-coated polymer template from the first substrate, removing the polymer template from the carbon coating, and disposing the carbon coating on a second substrate. A solid electrolyte interphase layer (SEI) comprising the carbon coating produced via the method, a battery electrode comprising such an SEI layer, and a battery comprising such a battery electrode are also provided.
1. A method of forming a battery electrode, the method comprising:
forming, on a first substrate, a polymer template comprising interconnected polymer fibers;
forming, on the polymer template, a carbon coating to form a carbon-coated polymer template;
removing the carbon-coated polymer template from the first substrate;
subsequent to removing the carbon-coated polymer template from the first substrate, removing the polymer template from the carbon coating; and
disposing the carbon coating on a second substrate.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein forming the polymer template comprises forming the polymer template via electrospinning.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein electrospinning comprises electrospinning a precursor solution comprising poly (vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP), ethanol, and deionized water.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the polymer fibers comprise nanofibers.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the polymer template comprises a random array of polymer fibers.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the polymer fibers have an average diameter in a range of from about 50 nm to about 5 μm.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the polymer template comprises an ordered array of polymer fibers.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the polymer fibers have an average diameter in a range of from about 50 nm to about 5 μm.
9. The method of claim 1 further comprising forming the carbon coating to a thickness of 5 nm to 30 nm.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein removing the polymer template comprises dissolving the polymer template in water, methanol, ethanol, or dimethylformamide.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein removing the polymer template comprises dissolving the polymer template in an organic solvent.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second substrate comprises a conductive material.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the carbon coating is freestanding, flexible, and nanostructured.
14. A solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer for use in a battery electrode, the SEI layer comprising:
a semi-tubular carbon film comprising two or more adjacent smoothly-curved, intersecting structures that extend less than 360°.
15. The SEI layer of claim 14 , wherein the semi-tubular carbon film has a thickness in a range of from about 5.0 nm to about 1 micron.
16. The SEI layer of claim 14 further comprising a substrate onto which the semi-tubular carbon film is disposed.
17. The SEI layer of claim 14 , wherein the semi-tubular carbon film is nanostructured.
18. The SEI layer of claim 14 , operable to inhibit the formation of lithium dendrites in a Li metal battery.
19. An electrode comprising the SEI layer of claim 14 .
20. The electrode of claim 19 , having a Coulombic efficiency (CE) of greater than 98% for at least 100 cycles at a current density of 1.0 mA cm −2 .