# Uniform Fast-Kinetic Anode/Cathode Electrolyte Interphases Enable High Performance 3C Li-Metal Batteries with > 99.9% Coulombic Efficiencies

## TL;DR

A new additive improves lithium metal battery performance by creating stable layers at both electrodes, enabling long cycling and high efficiency.

## Contribution

A dual-function additive creates uniform interphases at both anode and cathode, enabling high-performance 3C lithium metal batteries.

## Key findings

- Li ||Li cells show enhanced plating/stripping reversibility of >700 h at 1 mA cm−2 and 0.5 mAh cm−2.
- Li ||LFP cells achieve 99.9% capacity retention after 500 cycles at 3C rate with >99.9% coulombic efficiency.
- The additive inhibits dendrite growth and electrolyte decomposition, improving battery stability and performance.

## Abstract

4-Fluoro-3-nitrophenylboronic acid, as an additive, has contributed to uniform N-/F-rich interphase layers at both electrodes of the lithium metal batteries.Uniform interphase layers inhibited Li dendrite growth at Li-metal anode, and alleviated uncontrolled electrolyte decomposition and active species loss at the LiFePO4 (LFP) cathode.Li ||Li cells demonstrate enhanced plating/stripping reversibility of >700 h at 1 mA cm−2 and 0.5 mAh cm−2, while Li ||LFP cells can be stably cycled for over 500 cycles at 3C rate with a capacity retention of 99.9%, simultaneously maintaining >99.9% coulombic efficiencies.

4-Fluoro-3-nitrophenylboronic acid, as an additive, has contributed to uniform N-/F-rich interphase layers at both electrodes of the lithium metal batteries.

Uniform interphase layers inhibited Li dendrite growth at Li-metal anode, and alleviated uncontrolled electrolyte decomposition and active species loss at the LiFePO4 (LFP) cathode.

Li ||Li cells demonstrate enhanced plating/stripping reversibility of >700 h at 1 mA cm−2 and 0.5 mAh cm−2, while Li ||LFP cells can be stably cycled for over 500 cycles at 3C rate with a capacity retention of 99.9%, simultaneously maintaining >99.9% coulombic efficiencies.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40820-026-02088-w.

Lithium metal batteries (LMBs) represent one of the most promising energy storage systems due to unparalleled energy density. However, in commercial electrolytes, their practical high-power performance is still hampered by unstable electrolyte interfaces, leading to severe anode dendrite growth and cathode degradation. Here, 4-fluoro-3-nitrophenylboronic acid is introduced as a dual-function additive, contributing to uniform N-/F-rich interphase layers at both electrodes of the LMBs. Therefore, in the optimized electrolyte, Li-metal electrodes demonstrate enhanced plating/stripping reversibility of > 700 h (vs. 250 h at 1 mA cm−2 and 0.5 mAh cm−2) and coulombic efficiency of 98.2% (vs. 84.2%). Moreover, the corresponding LMBs achieve 99.9% capacity retention (vs. 44.7%) after 500 cycles at 3C rate, simultaneously maintaining > 99.9% coulombic efficiencies. The impressive fast-charging performance attributes to not only the uniform and compact Li deposition at the anode, but also the inhibited uncontrolled electrolyte decomposition and active species loss at the cathode due to the robust electrolyte interphases. This work highlights that proper electrolyte additive is crucial for fast-charging metal batteries.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40820-026-02088-w.