We present the prerequisites for an ideal Li foil interfacial layer in Supplementary Fig. 10.
We have found that even the best interfacial layer, i.e., lithiophobic CNT, failed to effectively regulate Li deposits over the long term because a mossy Li layer tended to form underneath the CNT interfacial layer.
Yan, K. et al. Ultrathin two-dimensional atomic crystals as stable interfacial layer for improvement of lithium metal anode.
Sun, Y. et al. Efficient, air-stable bulk heterojunction polymer solar cells using MoOx as the anode interfacial layer.
McDonald, M. B. & Freund, M. S. Graphene oxide as a water dissociation catalyst in the bipolar membrane interfacial layer.
Zhu, B. et al. Poly(dimethylsiloxane) thin film as a stable interfacial layer for high-performance lithium-metal battery anodes.
Through analysis of the shortcomings presented above, we identify an experimental discovery of the guidelines for ideal interfacial layer design.
This interfacial layer is critical to our understanding of a diverse set of phenomena from biology to materials science.
Here, the strategy was typically applied to the gradient ZnO/electrospun fiber (GZF) interfacial layer (Supplementary Figs. 18 20) and proved equally effective in regulating Li deposition.
The CNT interfacial layer exhibited a high Young's modulus of 8 GPa, i.e., 40 times higher than that of the electrospun fiber layer (Supplementary Fig. 6e, f).
However, the design guidelines and mechanism interpretation are still empirical, and the prerequisite for an ideal Li anode interfacial layer is still elusive.
