Nanostructured Fe2O3 and CuO composite electrodes for Li ion batteries synthesized and deposited in one step

• Published in: Journal of power sources Vol. 196; no. 15; pp. 6425 - 6432
• Main Authors: García-Tamayo, E., Valvo, M., Lafont, U., Locati, C., Munao, D., Kelder, E.M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01-08-2011; Elsevier
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Conversion reaction; Direct energy conversion and energy accumulation; Electrical engineering. Electrical power engineering; Electrical power engineering; Electrochemical conversion: primary and secondary batteries, fuel cells; Electrospray pyrolysis; Exact sciences and technology; Li ion batteries; Materials; One step synthesis; One step synthesis; Conversion reaction; Electrospray pyrolysis; Li ion batteries; Lithium battery; Pyrolysis; Iron oxide; Nanostructured material; Alkaline storage battery; Secondary cell; Copper oxide; Composite material
• ISSN: 0378-7753; 1873-2755
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2011.03.066

► Iron and copper oxides as materials for negative electrodes for Li ion batteries. ► Precursor composed of dissolved metal salts in presence of PVdF binder successfully electrosprayed. ► Nanosized oxide particles directly and homogeneously dispersed with PVdF onto the electrode. ► Electrostatic spray pyrolysis suitable for the direct production of nanocomposite electrode coatings.
Nanostructured composite electrodes based on iron and copper oxides for applications in Li-ion batteries are produced by Electrostatic spray pyrolysis (ESP). The electrodes are directly formed by electrospraying precursor solutions containing either iron or copper salts dissolved in N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) together with polyvinylidene fluoride (PVdF) as binder. The morphology and the structure of the deposited electrodes are investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), which show that sub-micrometric deposits are formed as a composite of oxide nanoparticles of a few nanometers in a PVdF polymer matrix. Electrochemical characterization by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and galvanostatic charge–discharge tests demonstrate that the conversion reactions in these electrodes enable initial discharge capacities of about 800mAhg−1 and 1550mAhg−1 for CuO and Fe2O3, respectively. The capacity retention in both cases needs further improvements.