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Wang et al. Energy Mater 2024;4:400031 Energy Materials
DOI: 10.20517/energymater.2023.103

Article Open Access

Porous array of BaLi alloy microchannels enforced
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carbon cloth for a stable Li composite anode

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Zihao Wang , Tao Chen , Zhicui Song , Jianxiong Xing , Aijun Zhou , Jingze Li 1,3,*
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School of Materials and Energy, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, Sichuan, China.
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School of Electronic Engineering, Chengdu Technological University, Chengdu 611730, Sichuan, China.
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Huzhou Key Laboratory of Smart and Clean Energy, Yangtze Delta Region Institute (Huzhou), University of Electronic Science
and Technology of China, Huzhou 313001, Zhejiang, China.
*Correspondence to: Prof. Jingze Li, School of Materials and Energy, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China,
No. 4, Section 2, Jianshe North Road, Chenghua District, Chengdu 611731, Sichuan, China. E-mail: lijingze@uestc.edu.cn
How to cite this article: Wang Z, Chen T, Song Z, Xing J, Zhou A, Li J. Porous array of BaLi alloy microchannels enforced carbon
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cloth for a stable Li composite anode. Energy Mater 2024;4:400031. https://dx.doi.org/10.20517/energymater.2023.103
Received: 12 Dec 2023 First Decision: 21 Feb 2024 Revised: 12 Mar 2024 Accepted: 27 Mar 2024 Published: 9 Apr 2024
Academic Editors: Hong Xu, Cheol-min Park Copy Editor: Fangling Lan Production Editor: Fangling Lan

Abstract
Integrating metallic lithium (Li) with a three-dimensional (3D) host is a popular strategy for long-life Li composite
anodes, where the structure and physicochemical nature of the framework are critical for the electrochemical
performance. Herein, Li-rich dual-phase barium (Ba)-based alloy composed of BaLi intermetallic compounds and
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Li metal phases is thermally incorporated into commercial carbon cloth sheets to develop Li-Ba alloy composite
(LBAC) anodes featuring a porous array of BaLi microchannels as the built-in 3D skeleton. Doping of metallic Ba
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can greatly lower the surface tension of liquid Li and improve the wettability of the molten Li-Ba alloy toward the
carbon cloth substrate. Moreover, LBAC benefits from the superior lithiophilicity and the porous architecture of
BaLi skeleton nested in a conductive carbon fiber matrix, leading to stable cycling performance by confining Li
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stripping/plating in microchannels network of BaLi alloy framework and dissipating high current densities. As a
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result, the LBAC symmetrical cells can run stably for 1,000 h under 1 mA cm and 1 mA h cm , and the capacity
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retention can retain 93.3% after 300 cycles in the full cell with areal capacity of 2.45 mA h cm . This work offers a
smart designing strategy of 3D Li alloy composite anodes by introducing porous and lithiophilic alloy scaffold as
sub-framework of the carbon hosting anode, promising the prospect of Li metal batteries for future applications.
Keywords: Li composite anode, carbon cloth, Li-Ba alloy, wettability, microchannels

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