Polyaniline/Copper Composite Anode Current Collectors Prepared through Electrochemical Polymerization for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Graphical Layer it on : The primary focus of this study is to adjust electrochemical polymerization parameters, enable electrodeposition of the polyaniline process to be faster than the dissolution of the bare Cu foil, thus the nanoscale polyaniline particles can be deposited onto the Cu foil surface. The existence of the PANI layer on the surface of the Cu foil is favorable for the improvement of the battery electrical performance. Herein, a new type of composite anode with a Cu foil current collector modified with polyaniline (PANI) was prepared (PANI/Cu). SEM manifests that the PANI layer is 1.8 μm thick and composed of PANI particles with a diameter of 50 nm nanometers, which provides a large contact surface area to enhance the strength of adhesion to the electrode material. FTIR and UV/Vis analysis confirmed that the PANI layer existed in the emeraldine (conductive) form. Half-cells were assembled by using PANI/Cu and bare/Cu (both coated with Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 electrode material) as the working electrode, and Li wafers as the counter electrode. Cycling performance tests demonstrated that, after cycling for 500 cycles at 1 C, the discharge capacity was 155.0 mAh g −1 and 137.6 mAh g −1 for PANI/Cu battery and bare/Cu battery, respectively. Electrochemical impedance revealed the impedance of the PANI/Cu battery is decreased effectively by the PANI layer.