Preparation of Sn-Co alloy electrode for lithium ion batteries by pulse electrodeposition

Sn-Co alloy films for Li-ion batteries were prepared by pulse electrodeposition on the copper foils as current collectors. Nanocrystalline Sn-Co alloy electrodes produced by using a solution containing cobalt chloride and tin chloride at constant electrodeposition conditions (pulse on-time ton at 5 ms and pulse off-time toff at 5 ms) with varying peak current densities, Jp have been investigated. The structures of the electroplated Sn-Co alloy thin films were studied to reveal film morphology current density relationships and the effect of the current density parameters on the electrochemical properties. X-Ray Diffractometer (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analyzer and Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) facilities were used for determination the relationships between structure and experimental parameters. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) tests were carried out to reveal reversible reactions between cobalt-tin and lithium. Galvanostatic charge/discharge (GC) measurements were performed in the cells formed by using anode composite materials produced by pulse electro co-deposition. The discharge capacities of these cells were cyclically tested by a battery tester at a constant current in the different voltage ranges between 0.02 V-1.5 V. The results have shown that Sn-Co alloy yielded promising reversible discharge capacities with a satisfactory cycle life for an alternative anode material to apply for the Li-ion batteries.