Electrodeposition and electrochemical properties of novel ternary tin–cobalt–phosphorus alloy electrodes for lithium-ion batteries

Porous Sn–Co–P alloy with reticular structure were prepared by electroplating using copper foam as current collector. The structure and electrochemical performance of the electroplated porous Sn–Co–P alloy electrodes were investigated in detail. Experimental results illustrated that the porous Sn–Co–P alloy consists of mainly SnP0.94 phase with a minor quantity of Sn and Co3Sn2. Galvanostatic charge–discharge tests of porous Sn–Co–P alloy electrodes confirmed its excellent performances: at 50th charge–discharge cycle, the discharge specific capacity is 503 mAh g−1 and the columbic efficiency is as high as 99%. It has revealed that the porous and multi-phase composite structure of the alloy can restrain the pulverization of electrode in charge/discharge cycles, and accommodate partly the volume expansion and phase transition, resulting in good cycleability of the electrode.