Advances in Carbon Coatings for Current Collectors in Lithium-Ion Battery Applications: Focus on Three-Dimensional Carbon Nanowalls

Current collectors are key components of lithium-ion batteries, providing conductive pathways and maintaining interfacial stability with the electrode materials. Conventional metal-based current collectors, such as aluminum and copper, exhibit excellent conductivity and mechanical strength. However, they have considerable limitations, including electrochemical corrosion, interfacial resistance caused by the formation of passive layers, and mechanical degradation due to repeated cycling. To overcome these challenges, various carbon-based coatings, including amorphous carbon, graphene, and carbon nanotubes, have been developed. These coatings enhance the current collector performance by improving the collector conductivity, chemical stability, and interfacial adhesion. Vertically aligned graphene-like structures known as carbon nanowalls (CNWs) have garnered attention owing to their unique architecture, resulting in high surface area, exceptional conductivity, and excellent thermal and mechanical properties. In this mini-review, the recent advancements in carbon-based coating technologies and their role in enhancing the performance of current collectors were summarized, focusing on the innovative applications of CNWs in next-generation energy storage systems.