3D Nanostructured Electrodes for High Energy Density Li-ion Batteries

Recent efforts for the design of new negative electrode materials for Li-ion batteries have led to the screening of binary compounds MP_x exhibiting high gravimetric and volumetric capacities. Among them, Cu₃P has been recently investigated both experimentally and by first-principles calculations. According to this study, the electrochemical mechanism for Cu₃P during the first discharge is characterized by the conversion to a composite electrode consisting of metallic nano-sized particles embedded in a Li₃P matrix.^1,2 The reaction can be described as follows:

Cu₃P + 3Li ® Li₃P + Cu

3D metal porous structure can stand as an attractive electrode material since it facilitates new electron pathways, allows simple access of the electrolyte to the active material and promotes charge transfer between them during battery cycling. Moreover, 3D electrode can accommodate for the volume changes occurring in the active material upon lithium insertion and avoids the use of a current collector.

In this work, we demonstrate a simple method to synthesize Cu₃P 3D structure directly on a Cu porous membrane. Cu₃P grows perpendicular to the surface and exhibits disk like morphology. The Cu₃P 3D electrodes show outstanding cycling performance and high coulombic efficiency.

S. Boyanov, M. Womes, L. Monconduit, and D. Zitoun, Chem. Mater., 2009, 21, 3684–3692.
S. Boyanov, D. Zitoun, M. Me, I. Charles, and G. M. C. Agre, 2009, 21441–21452.