Preparation and Characterization of Sandwich-Typed Three-Dimensional Nanoporous Copper-Supported Tin Thin-Film Anode for Lithium Ion Battery

To ameliorate the large volume expansion/contraction during lithiation/delithiation process of metallic tin anode for high-performance lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), a unique sandwich-typed three-dimensional nanoporous copper-supported tin (3D-NPC/Sn) thin-film anode was prepared by partly chemical dealloying of as-cast Al 50 at.% Cu alloy slices followed by electroless depositing of a thin layer of tin in an alkaline solution. The microstructure of the 3D-NPC/Sn thin-film anode was characterized using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray analysis, and its electrochemical performance was investigated by galvanostatic charge/discharge cycling test. The results show that the 3D-NPC/Sn thin-film anode exhibits higher capacity and better cyclability than that of two-dimensional (2D) counterpart, which can be attributed to the special 3D porous structure and large active surface area facilitating accommodation of structural strain and acceleration of mass transportation, suggesting that the 3D-NPC/Sn thin-film anode has a promising application in high-performance LIBs.