Communication—Fabrication of a Uniformly Tin-Coated Three-Dimensional Copper Nanostructured Architecture by Electrodeposition

Abstract

A three-dimensional copper nanostructure architecture (3DC1) coated uniformly with a tin film was fabricated by electrodeposition. In these trials, a pyrophosphate bath was used for tin plating, and the effects of polyethylene glycol and formaldehyde additives on the morphology of the deposited tin were investigated. Relatively large tin particles were electrodeposited in an inhomogeneous manner over the 3DC1 surface when using a plating bath without additives. In contrast, 3DC1 coated with a uniformly thick tin film was fabricated by employing a bath with the additives. have been widely researched. Among these potential uses, the application of 3D copper nanostructured architectures as current collectors in lithium ion battery anodes is one of the most attractive. Consequently, numerous studies have investigated possible tin-based lithium ion battery anodes, including nanoporous copper formed by de-alloying aluminum from an Al-Cu alloy, 4 nanoporous copper generated by electrodeposition using hydrogen bubbles as a template 5-7 and copper nanopillars fabricated by electrodeposition through a porous alumina membrane.8 Although these 3D copper nanostructured architectures are very effective at improving electrode functions, their manufacture requires many steps and is therefore complex. In contrast, our group has previously developed a very straightforward electrodeposition method for the fabrication of these architectures, in which an organic additive is simply added to the electrodeposition bath.9 This process of making 3D copper nanostructure architectures by one-step electrodeposition (the resulting products henceforth being designated as 3DC1) can be expected to have practical applications in the manufacture of various objects, such as current collectors for tin-based lithium ion battery anodes. To ensure the high performance of such anodes, the uniformity of the tin film on the 3DC1 substrate is important. Unfortunately, in general, it is difficult to form metal films with uniform thicknesses on uneven substrates such as 3DC1 by electrodeposition.In this study, therefore, the conditions associated with the electrodeposition of tin on 3DC1 were examined with the aim of fabricating uniformly tin-coated 3DC1. Experimental3DC1 was fabricated on a pure copper plate (JIS C1201P) with an exposed surface area of 10 cm 2 (3.3 × 3 cm) using a plating bath (0.85 M CuSO 4 · 5H 2 O + 0.55 M H 2 SO 4 + 3 × 10 −4 M polyacrylic acid (mean molecular weight 5000; PA-5000)) under galvanostatic conditions (1 A dm −2 ) without agitation at 25• C. 9 The amount of charge applied was 38 C (3.8 C cm −2 ). The continuous electrodeposition of tin was conducted on the resulting 3DC1, employing a pyrophosphate bath 10 (0.25 M Sn 2 P 2 O 7 + 1 M K 4 P 2 O 7 ) as the basic tin plating bath, together with polyethylene glycol (mean molecular weight 600: PEG600) and formaldehyde (HCHO) as additives. 11 * Electrochemical Society Active Member. z E-mail: araisun@shinshu-u.ac.jpThe composition of the tin plating bath with additives was 0.25 M S...

Fabrication of Three-Dimensional (3D) Copper/Carbon Nanotube Composite Film by One-Step Electrodeposition

“…38 The specific surface area and other properties of the 3DC/CNT composite films will be examined in future work.…”

“…The 3DC/CNT films fabricated in this study are expected to be used for various functional electrode applications, such as electrodes for electric double layer capacitors and lithium-ion batteries. 38 The specific surface area and other properties of the 3DC/CNT composite films will be examined in future work.…”

“…9 This process for the preparation of 3D copper nanostructured architecture films by onestep electrodeposition (the resulting products henceforth being designated as 3DC1 film) is expected to be used as a practical method for the fabrication of various components, such as current collectors for tin-based lithium-ion battery anodes. 10 However, the 3DC1 film consists of very thin (30-50 nm) copper sheets; therefore, its structural strength is low, which results in deformation of the 3D structure when a slight physical force is applied.…”

Fabrication of Roughened Electrodeposited Copper Coating on Steel for Dissimilar Joining of Steel and Thermoplastic Resin

“…For practical applications, a joining technology with a roughened plating film that does not rely on composite plating is desirable. We have already reported that a roughened electrodeposited copper film can be fabricated using a roughening agent [19], and that the roughened copper film acts as an effective current collector when applied to a lithium [20,21] or sodium [22] ion battery anode.…”