Electrolytic coating of Sn nano-rods on nickel foam support for high performance lithium ion battery anodes

Abstract

Abstract In this study, Sn was electrodeposited onto the porous nickel foam substrate under pulse electrodeposition conditions. Pulse electrodeposition was carried out at three different peak current densities of 10, 20 and 40 mA/cm 2 for 5 min in a pyrophosphate bath containing 40 g/L SnCl 2 .2H 2 O, 164 g/L K 4 P 2 O 7 and 19 g/L Glycin. Surface morphology of Sn–Ni foam electrodes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) to understand the elemental surface composition of composites. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis was carried out to investigate the crystal structure of Sn–Ni foam electrode. The electrochemical performances of electrodes were investigated by charge/discharge tests, cyclic voltammetry experiments and the ac impedance technique. The results yielded encouraging discharge capacities since Ni foam behaves as a stress buffering layer as well as an electronic conductivity component.