LAUSR

The advantages of sodium metal, such as abundant resources, low cost, high capacity, and high working potential, make it a promising metal anode. Unfortunately, the hazardous dendrite growth of sodium metal is one of the major hindrances for the practical application of sodium metal batteries (SMBs). By applying multifunctional Mg(II)@Ti3 C2 MXene as the protective layer for commercial Cu foil, the wettability of the electrolyte on the current collector is dramatically improved with the suppression of sodium dendrites. Moreover, the first-principles calculations prove that the surface of Mg(0001) is able to establish a connection with Na(111) growth, with Mg acting as the nucleation seed for sodium. The experimental results indicate that even when a high areal capacity of sodium (2 mAh cm-2 ) is deposited, no sodium dendrite is observed. Electrochemical tests, including symmetric cells, Na||Cu asymmetric cells, and full cells, prove the sodiophilic character of Mg2+ -decorated Ti3 C2 MXene. The results may also create a new pathway for developing other dendrite-free metal anodes, such as Li/K/Zn/Ca/Mg.