A New Type of Lithium-ion Battery Based on Tin Electroplated Negative Electrodes

This work describes the preparation and the characterization of various samples of metallic Sn electroplated on a cupper foil under different current and time regimes. These samples have been characterized by XRD and SEM and tested as negative electrodes in a cell using lithium foil as the counter electrode. The best electrode has been cycled with a capacity in the order of 990 mAhg(-1), i.e. approaching 100 % of theoretical capacity at 1 equivalent Li alloying. This electrode was also tested under a limited capacity regime (400 mAhg(-1)) showing an interesting cycle life. Finally, the electrode was used as anode in a lithium-ion cell with LiNi(0.5)Mn(1.5)O(4) as cathode. This cell performed well at high rate (1C rate), delivering high capacity and excellent charge-discharge efficiency for a limited amount of cycles.