Volume 181, 2015

Low-current field-assisted assembly of copper nanoparticles for current collectors

Abstract

Current collectors are essential features of batteries and many other electronic devices being responsible for efficient charge transport to active electrode materials. Three-dimensional (3D), high surface area current collectors considerably improve the performance of cathodes and anodes in batteries, but their technological implementation is impeded by the complexity of their preparation, which needs to be simple, fast, and energy efficient. Here we demonstrate that field-stimulated assembly of ∼3 nm copper nanoparticles (NPs) enables the preparation of porous Cu NP films. The use of NP dispersions enables 30× reduction of the deposition current for making functional 3D coatings. In addition to high surface area, lattice-to-lattice connectivity in the self-assembly of NPs in 3D structures enables fast charge transport. The mesoscale dimensions of out-of-plane features and the spacing between them in Cu films made by field-stimulated self-assembly of NPs provides promising morphology for current collection in lithium ion batteries (LIBs). Half-cell electrochemical models based on self-assembled films show improved specific capacity, total capacity, and cycling performance compared to traditional flat and other 3D current collectors. While integration of active electrode material into the 3D topography of the current collector needs to be improved, this study indicates that self-assembled NP films represent a viable manufacturing approach for 3D electrodes.

Associated articles

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
14 Dec 2014
Accepted
16 Feb 2015
First published
21 May 2015

Faraday Discuss., 2015,181, 383-401

Author version available

Low-current field-assisted assembly of copper nanoparticles for current collectors

L. Liu, B. G. Choi, S. O. Tung, T. Hu, Y. Liu, T. Li, T. Zhao and N. A. Kotov, Faraday Discuss., 2015, 181, 383 DOI: 10.1039/C4FD00263F

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements