Electrochemical synthesis of SnCo alloy shells on orderly rod-shaped Cu current collectors as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries with enhanced performance

•Nanostructured SnCo/Cu electrodes have been successfully fabricated.•A simple electrodeposition approach was employed.•The Cu arrays offer large surface area and improve electronic/ionic conductivity.•The electrodes show improved performance as anode for Li-ion batteries.•The improved performance was attributed to the nanostructured current collectors.

In this article, we report a two-step electrodeposition method for the synthesis of Cu/SnCo core–shell rod-shaped arrays as anodes of lithium-ion batteries. Firstly, the arrayed Cu nanorods with diameters of 200 nm were fabricated on a Cu foil through an electrodeposition method with alumina oxide membrane (AAO) as the template. Secondly, the SnCo alloy shells were subsequently electrodeposited on the surface of the rod-shaped Cu arrays to form the hybrid nanostructures. These hybrid electrodes delivered the enhanced cyclic performance and high rate capability serving as the anode materials for lithium-ion batteries. The improved electrochemical performance might be attributed to the large surface-to-volume area, sufficient buffering space, and high electronic conductivity associated with these 3-dimensional (3D) nanostructures.