Electrodeposition and electrochemical characterisation of thick and thin coatings of Sb and Sb/Sb2O3 particles for Li-ion battery anodes

Thin films of Cu2Sb and Cu9Sb2 as anode materials in Li-ion batteries

“…As electrochemical deposition also offers precise control of the reactions involved in the deposition, the structure, phase composition and thickness of the films can likewise readily be controlled. We have thus shown [4,5] that it is possible to electrochemically deposit Sb-films with and without co-deposited of Sb 2 O 3 on Ni substrates merely by adjusting the pH of the electrodeposition solution. It was also shown that the cycling stability of the electrodes was dramatically improved when Sb 2 O 3 was co-deposited in the films.…”

“…The Cu 2 Sb lithiation and delithiation reaction mechanism has recently been discussed by several groups [30,32,35] and a three-step process has been proposed, in which the reaction (1) has been divided into two separate steps. The lithiation mechanisms proposed by Morcrette et al [32] (see reactions (3) and (4)) and Matsuno et al [30] (see reactions (5) and (6)) differ with respect to the extent of the extrusion of Cu in the two steps;…”

“…150% [16]) during the lithiation process, unfortunately generally leads to a dramatic capacity loss during cycling of this type of materials. As was recently shown [4,5] this problem can, however, be circumvented with materials composed of a mixture of Sb and Sb 2 O 3 nanoparticles obtained by electrodeposition from a solution containing antimony tartrate. As has been shown by several groups [27,[30][31][32][33][34], Cu 2 Sb can likewise be used as anode material in Li-ion batteries.…”

“…This means that the electrode materials should be studied in the absence of additives such as binders and carbon black. As we have recently demonstrated [4,5], such electrode materials can be obtained by electrodepositing, e.g. Sb directly on a conducting substrate serving as the current collector.…”

“…Due to the significant changes in the volume of these materials associated with the lithiation and delithiation processes, much work is presently carried out to study how to circumvent this problem [3] using for instance, metal oxides [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] where the oxide serves as a buffering matrix during the lithiation process, or by utilising nanoparticles to minimize the effects of the volume changes [11][12][13]. Other approaches involve embedding the active electrode material in a composite matrix [14][15][16], the use of amorphous alloys [17][18][19], or intermetallic systems (A x B y ) which have a strong structural relationship to that of their lithiated products [20][21][22].…”