Advanced Lithium Metal–Carbon Nanotube Composite Anode for High-Performance Lithium–Oxygen Batteries

The low Coulombic efficiency and hazardous dendrite growth hinder the adoption of lithium anode in high-energy density batteries. Herein, we report a lithium metal–carbon nanotube (Li–CNT) composite as an alternative to the long-term untamed lithium electrode to address the critical issues associated with the lithium anode in Li–O 2 batteries, where the lithium metal is impregnated in a porous carbon nanotube microsphere matrix (CNTm) and surface-passivated with a self-assembled monolayer of octadecylphosphonic acid as a tailor-designed solid electrolyte interphase (SEI). The high specific surface area of the Li–CNT composite reduces the local current density and thus suppresses the lithium dendrite formation upon cycling. Moreover, the tailor-designed SEI effectively separates the Li–CNT composite from the electrolyte solution and prevents the latter’s further decomposition. When the Li–CNT composite anode is coupled with another CNTm-based O 2 cathode, the reversibility and cycle life of the resultant Li–O 2 batteries are drastically elevated.