Due to their high energy and power densities, lithium-ion batteries are the primary choice for application in consumer electronics. Although new electrode materials for Li-ion batteries are developed continuously, relatively little attention has so far been paid to the use of electrochemical methods in the manufacturing of battery materials. In the field of microbatteries, electrodeposition has, nevertheless, become an important technique for the manufacturing of current collectors, electrode materials and electrolytes [1]. During the last few years it has also been shown that electrochemically nanostructured electrodes lacking binders and other additives can facilitate the attainment of an improved understanding of the electrochemical reactions taking place in lithium based batteries.

This presentation will focus on the development of electrochemical approaches for the manufacturing and study of nanostructured electrode materials for lithium based batteries. It will be shown that electrodeposition can be used for the manufacturing of 3-D copper and aluminium [1] current collectors as well as the coating of these with thin layers of anode or cathode materials. Electrochemical manufacturing and characterisation of materials such as multilayered Cu/Cu₂O nanorods [2], Sn/SnO₂ particles [3] and TiO₂ nanotubes (see Figure 1) will be discussed, as well as a new approach for the manufacturing of TiO₂ nanotube size gradient based electrodes [4]. Some fundamental issues regarding the electrochemical processes in the electrochemically manufactured materials, including the formation of “cathodic passive layers” and “trapping of lithium” in current collectors and alloy forming electrode materials [5] and the electrodeposition of homogeneous lithium films on lithium electrodes (see Figure 1) will likewise be discussed.

References

[1] K. Edström, D. Brandell, T. Gustafsson, L. Nyholm, Electrodeposition as a tool for 3D Microbattery Fabrication, Electrochem. Soc. Interface, 20 (2011) 41.

[2] D. Rehnlund, M. Valvo, C. –W. Tai, J. Ångström, M. Sahlberg, K. Edström, L. Nyholm, Electrochemical fabrication and characterization of Cu/Cu₂O multi-layered micro and nanorods in Li-ion batteries, Nanoscale, 7 (2015) 13591.

[3] S. Böhme, K. Edström, L. Nyholm, Overlapping and Rate Controlling Electrochemical Reactions for Tin(IV) Oxide Electrodes in Lithium-Ion Batteries, J. Electroanal. Chem., 797 (2017) 47.

[4] W. Wei, F. Björefors, L. Nyholm, Hybrid energy storage devices based on monolithic electrodes containing well-defined TiO₂ nanotube size gradients, Electrochim. Acta, 176 (2015) 1393.

[5] D. Rehnlund, F. Lindgren, S. Böhme, T. Nordh, Y. Zou, J. Pettersson, U. Bexell, M. Boman, K. Edström, L. Nyholm, Lithium Trapping in Alloy forming Electrodes and Current Collectors for Lithium based Batteries, Energy Environ. Sci., 10 (2017) 1350.