ABSTRACT
Lithium (Li) metal is regarded as the "Holy Grail" of anodes for high-energy rechargeable lithium batteries by virtue of its ultrahigh theoretical specific capacity and the lowest redox potential. However, the Li dendrite impedes the practical application of Li metal anodes. Herein, lithiophilic three-dimensional Cu-CuSn porous framework (3D Cu-CuSn) was fabricated by a vapor phase dealloying strategy via the difference in saturated vapor pressure between different metals and the Kirkendall effect. CuSn alloy sites were converted into LiSn alloy sites through the molten Li infusion method, and composite Li metal anodes (3D Cu-LiSn-Li) are achieved. Alloyed tin, as the bridge between the porous copper substrate and metallic Li, plays a critical role in optimizing Li nucleation and enhancing the fast lithium migration kinetics. This work demonstrates that lithiophilic binary copper alloys are an effective way to achieve room-temperature high rate performance and satisfied low-temperature cycling stability for Li metal batteries.
ABSTRACT
In this paper, Cu-6 wt%Ag alloy sheets were prepared using vacuum induction melting, heat treatment, and cold working rolling. We investigated the influence of the aging cooling rate on the microstructure and properties of Cu-6 wt%Ag alloy sheets. By reducing the cooling rate of the aging treatment, the mechanical properties of the cold-rolled Cu-6 wt%Ag alloy sheets were improved. The cold-rolled Cu-6 wt%Ag alloy sheet achieves a tensile strength of 1003 MPa and an electrical conductivity of 75% IACS (International Annealing Copper Standard), which is superior to the alloy fabricated with other methods. SEM characterization shows that the change in properties of the Cu-6 wt%Ag alloy sheets with the same deformation is due to a precipitation of the nano-Ag phase. The high-performance Cu-Ag sheets are expected to be used as Bitter disks for water-cooled high-field magnets.
