Preparation and characterization of novel sandwich-typed three-dimensional bimodal nanoporous copper-supported tin thin-film anode for lithium ion battery

We reported a unique sandwich-typed three-dimensional bimodal nanoporous copper-supported tin (3D-BNPC/Sn) thin-film anode for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) prepared by partly chemical dealloying of as-cast Al 15 at.% Cu alloy slices followed by electroless depositing of a thin layer of tin in an alkaline solution. The microstructure of the 3D-BNPC/Sn thin-film electrode 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-BNPC/Sn thin-film anode exhibits much higher first discharge capacity and better initial Coulombic efficiency than that of two-dimensional (2D) counterpart, which can be attributed to the special 3D bimodal porous structure and large active surface area, suggesting that the 3D-BNPC/Sn thin-film anode possesses a promising application in high-performance LIBs.