Plastic-Deformation-Driven Nonepitaxial Deposition of (110)-Texture Enables Stable Lithium and Sodium Metal Anodes.

Abstract

Uncontrolled Li deposition and dendrite growth severely limit the cycle life of Li metal batteries. Realizing (110)-oriented Li deposition is an effective strategy for mitigating these issues. However, current regulation methods generally rely on specific substrates or constrained electrochemical conditions, limiting their universality and overlooking the intrinsic mechanical responses of Li. Here we demonstrate a stress‑driven plastic deformation mechanism that drives a nonepitaxial yet (110)‑preferred growth mode independent of external chemistry or substrate structure. The applied stress drives plastic deformation predominantly via crystallographic slip, which gradually reorients grains and strengthens the (110) texture. It markedly improves electrochemical stability, enabling Li||Li symmetric cells to cycle for over 2000 h and Li||NCM811 full cells for over 500 cycles. Importantly, this strategy relies solely on the intrinsic mechanical properties of Li, requiring neither substrate modification nor interfacial engineering, thus ensuring broad compatibility across various systems. The principle also extends to sodium metal anodes, where analogous stress-driven (110) texture formation is achieved. This work effectively decouples crystallographic orientation control from conventional epitaxial constraints, establishing a universal mechanics-based approach for regulating alkali metal deposition.