Nickel foam-supported porous NiO/Ag film electrode for lithium-ion batteries

Porous NiO film was deposited on a nickel foam substrate by a chemical bath deposition technique at room temperature, and the NiO/Ag film was prepared by loading the NiO film with Ag nanoparticles. The NiO/Ag film with a thickness of about 1 mu m is constructed by NiO nanoflakes, in which the Ag nanoparticles with sizes of about 5 nm are highly dispersed. As an anode for lithium-ion batteries, its initial coulombic efficiency is as high as 70%. The discharge-charge curve and cyclic voltammograms show that the NiO/Ag film electrode exhibits smaller potential hysteresis and weaker polarization as compared to the NiO film electrode. The specific capacity after 50 cycles for the NiO/Ag film is 550 mAh g(-1) at 0.5 A g(-1), 450 mAh g(-1) at 1.5 A g(-1), and 420 mAh g(-1) at 3 A g(-1), higher than that of NiO (490 mAh g(-1) at 0.5 A g(-1), 350 mAh g(-1) at 1.5 A g(-1), and 300 mAh g(-1) at 3 A g(-1)). The improvement of these electrochemical properties is attributed to the Ag nanoparticles, which enhanced the electrical conduction of the electrode. (C) 2008 The Electrochemical Society.