Ladderlike carbon nanoarrays on 3D conducting skeletons enable uniform lithium nucleation for stable lithium metal anodes.

Inhomogeneous Li nucleation leads to uncontrolled dendritic Li growth, seriously impeding the practical applications of Li metal-based batteries. Herein, we demonstrate that a well-arranged ladderlike carbon nanoarray membrane on 3D conducting skeletons can bring about homogenous Li-ion flux and reduced local current density, thus regulating uniform Li nucleation and dendrite-free Li growth. The favorable Li deposition behavior contributes to a high Coulombic efficiency (99%) and an ultralong cycling life (1000 h) with a low overpotential.