Three-Dimensional Carbon Nanotube-Coated Copper Mesh as a Current Collector for Graphite Anodes in High-Performance Lithium-Ion Batteries

Copper foil has been widely adopted as the anode current collector in commercial lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to its exceptional electrical conductivity, mechanical flexibility, and low cost. However, the smooth surface of copper foil often leads to active material delamination during cycling, resulting in accelerated capacity degradation. To address this limitation, this study developed a novel composite current collector featuring a high specific surface area and rough porous architecture through a dip-coating method. The fabrication process employs copper mesh as a structural skeleton, integrated with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) as functional fillers. Compared to conventional metallic copper foils, the composite current collector demonstrates superior interfacial wettability, enhanced adhesion strength, and reduced contact resistance. When paired with graphite as the active material, the graphite composite electrode exhibits outstanding cycling stability and rate capability. Specifically, the graphite composite electrode delivers a specific capacity of 297.9 mAh g−1 with 94.3% capacity retention after 200 cycles at 0.5 C, significantly outperforming the graphite–copper foil counterpart (238.3 mAh g−1, 81.2% retention). This work provides an innovative strategy for enhancing battery performance through the rational design of efficient and durable current collectors.