Plasma-activated tightly bonded uniform metal-organic framework on carbon cloth for stable Li metal anode

Achieving flawless growth of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) on carbon cloth is challenging and the influence of plasma on the growth of MOFs still needs to be examined. In this study, flawless zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) was grown on oxygen plasma activated carbon fiber and ZnO, N-dually doped hollow carbon web (p-ZNCC) was obtained after sintering. The oxygen plasma generated numerous CO polar bonds on the carbon fiber, which ensures tightened uniform growth of ZIF-8 particles and promoting the formation of lithiophilic pyrrolic N and ZnO after sintering. This enables uniform lithium deposition and rapid lithium-ion diffusion during the operation. The resulting lithium electrode with the p-ZNCC host (p-ZNCC-Li) exhibits stable lithium stripping/plating for up to 3000 h and a voltage hysteresis of 36 mV when cycled at 10 mA cm−2-10 mAh cm−2. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) reveals low charge transfer resistance and a high diffusion coefficient for p-ZNCC-Li. Moreover, the LNMO||p-ZNCC-Li cell demonstrates improved capacity retention at 1C after 250 cycles. This research is pioneering in using plasma to help grow metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) on carbon cloth that has lithiophilic spots, indicating significant progress in the development of lithium metal anode design.