Ni/NiO Based 3D Core-Shell Foam Anode for Lithium Ion Batteries

An innovative route to obtain Ni/NiO core-shell foam-based anodes for lithium-ion batteries is presented. Commercial Ni foams are conformally coated with NiO by ionic liquid-based electrodeposition. The electrochemical behavior of the resulting Ni/NiO electrodes in half coin cells with lithium counter electrode is investigated. The results are qualitatively correlated to the microstructural properties, including effects of the thermal annealing at 500 °C, of the NiO shell. The formation a NiO sub-layer by the thermal oxidation of the Ni foam seems to play a crucial role in the enhanced performance of the annealed Ni/NiO anodes, which exhibit a reversible discharge capacity around 0.8 mAh/cm2. Furthermore, the Ni/NiO core-shell foam-based anodes are evaluated in full coin Li-ion cells with high voltage LiMn0.8Fe0.2PO4 cathode. Promising cyclability is reached in NiO-LMFP coin cells under cycling at 0.4C.