Sodiophilic silver nanoparticles anchoring on vertical graphene modified carbon cloth for longevous sodium metal anodes

Sodium metal anodes (SMAs) have been widely investigated due to the high theoretical capacity and low redox potential. However, the uncontrollable dendrite formation of SMAs seriously hinders further development. Herein, a three-dimensional (3D) nanostructure composed of sodiophilic silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) anchored onto the vertical graphene (VG) decorated carbon cloth (CC) (Ag/VG-CC) is designed to regulate the sodium (Na) deposition behavior. The homogeneous Na deposition behavior enabled dendrite-free morphology is demonstrated by ex-situ scanning electron microscopy and in-situ optical microscopy characterizations owing to the 3D structure and sodiophilicity of Ag NPs. As a result, the Ag/VG-CC electrode maintains a high Coulombic efficiency of higher than 99.86% and high reversibility of Na plating/stripping processes over 2000 cycles at 3 mA cm⁻² with 1 mAh cm⁻². Furthermore, when the Na@Ag/VG-CC anode coupled with Na₃V₂(PO₄)₃@carbon cathode, the full cell presents a high reversible specific capacity of 98.6 mAh g⁻¹ after 300 cycles.