Chemical bath deposition of threedimensional ternary Sn-Zn-Ni film and its application as anode for Li ion battery

A three-dimensional ternary Sn-Zn-Ni film was prepared by a modified chemical bath deposition method, which involved the alkaline disproportionating reaction and other redox reactions happening simultaneously. Sn was obtained by the disproportionating reaction of Sn(OH) ₄ ^2-, while Zn and Ni were produced by the aid of two different kinds of reducing agents: NaBH ₄ and NaHPO ₂.H ₂O together. X-ray diffraction, SEM and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS) were used to characterise the phases, morphology and composition of the films respectively. The EDS results showed that the elements of Sn, Zn and Ni could all be found in both films by optimising the deposition conditions. Ternary Sn-Zn-Ni film was deposited on copper foam for use as anode in a lithium ion battery. The electrode showed a high level capacity of ∼ 500 mAh g ^-1 with good cycle stability for 35 cycles.