The search for new electrode materials for lithium ion batteries has become immanent during the last years. Metal fluorides in general, an especially anhydrous CuF2 is of major interest as electrode material. Surprisingly, only very few synthesis methods of the highly moisture sensitive CuF2 are known, and none of them ends up with a nanoscale material. This is a stern obstacle for research and development, and hence, the knowledge of its electrochemical behavior is rather poor. The synthesis of nano-CuF2 at low temperatures is a challenging task due to the low affinity of the copper(II) ion towards fluoride. We explored several novel soft chemistry synthesis routes towards CuF2 using anhydrous HF as fluorinating agent. The obtained CuF2 is a nanoscale material with particle diameters between 5 and 50 nm depending on precursor and synthesis conditions. Additionally, several synthesis routes towards other fluorine containing copper(II) compounds were improved. New copper(II) alkoxide fluorides were synthesized, being unknown so far. CuF2 indeed shows the expected high electrode potential and charging capacity in lithium ion batteries. The presence of oxygen species like water, hydroxide ions and alkoxide groups significantly reduces the cell potentials.

Novel synthesis approaches towards nano copper(II) fluoride – a high potential material for lithium ion batteries

255th National Meeting (2018)

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