Interfacial Engineering of a Heteroatom-Doped Graphene Layer on Patterned Aluminum Foil for Ultrafast Lithium Storage Kinetics

The design of the interfacial architecture between the electrode and the current collector in lithium-ion batteries (LIB) plays a key role in achieving ultrafast lithium storage kinetics with respect to efficient charge transfer and cycle stability. However, in recent years, despite considerable efforts in the structural and chemical engineering of active materials (anode and cathode materials), interfacial architectures between the electrode and the current collector have received relatively insufficient attention in the case of ultrafast LIBs. Here, the interface architecture of a micropatterned Al current collector with a heteroatom-doped graphene interfacial layer is developed using roll pressing and dip coating processes. The cathode electrode fabricated with the resultant current collector offers increased contact area with enhanced interfacial stability between the electrode and the current collector because of micropatterns with heteroatom-doped graphene formed on the current collector, leading to outstanding ultrafast cycling capacity (105.8 mA h g-1) at 20 C. Furthermore, at extremely high rate and long-term cycling performance, significant ultrafast cycling stability (specific capacity of 87.1 mA h g-1 with capacity retention of 82.3% at 20 C after 1000 cycles) is noted. These improved ultrafast and ultra-stable performances are explained in terms of the increased electron collection/provision site with a high contact area between the electrode and the current collector for enhanced ultrafast cycling capacity and the effective corrosion prevention of the current collector with fast charge transfer for ultrafast cycling stability.