Coatings of electrically insulating, ionically conducting materials such as phosphates and oxides have been found to improve the cycling performance of secondary battery electrodes, although it is still not very well understood why these coatings improve performance. Surface studies of bare and coated copper antimonide (Cu2Sb) films before and after cycling were performed in order to gain a better understanding of how aluminum phosphate (AlPO4) coatings improve the capacity retention of Cu2Sb anodes in lithium ion batteries. XPS was used to study changes in the surface chemistry of bare and AlPO4-coated Cu2Sb electrodes upon cycling. SEM was used to study changes in the microstructure of the bare and AlPO4-coated Cu2Sb films upon cycling, while redox-probe experiments and optical profilometry were used to study the uniformity and macroscopic changes of the anode surface. These studies have helped to increase our understanding of how AlPO4 coatings improve the capacity retention of 2D Cu2Sb lithium ion battery anodes.

Investigating improved capacity retention of AlPO4-coated Cu2Sb anodes for lithium-ion batteries

249th National Meeting (2015)

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