Electrochemical performance of Sn–Sb–Cu film anodes prepared by layer-by-layer electrodeposition

A novel layer-by-layer electrodeposition and heat-treatment approach was attempted to obtain Sn–Sb–Cu film anode for lithium ion batteries. The preparation of Sn–Sb–Cu anodes started with galvanostatic electrochemically depositing antimony and tin sequentially on the substrate of copper foil collector. Sn–Sb and Cu–Sb alloys were formed when heated. The SEM analysis showed that the crystalline grains become bigger and the surface of the Sn–Sb–Cu anode becomes more denser after annealing. The energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed the antimony, tin and copper were alloyed to form SnSb and Cu2Sb after heat treatment. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis showed the surface of the Sn–Sb–Cu electrode was covered by a thin oxide layer. Electrochemical measurements showed that the annealed Sn–Sb–Cu anode has high reversible capacity and good capacity retention. It exhibited a reversible capacity of about 962 mAh/g in the initial cycle, which still remained 715 mAh/g after 30 cycles.