A newly designed Cu/Super-P composite for the improvement of low-temperature performances of graphite anodes for lithium-ion batteries

Copper nanoparticles supported on Super-P carbon (Cu/Super-P) are prepared by a one-pot microwave assisted procedure and used as conductive additive in graphite anodes for lithium-ion batteries. Anodes prepared with the Cu/Super-P additive show excellent cycling stability at temperatures as low as -30 degrees C with reversible capacities of the order of 180 mAh g(-1). Four-points probe DC resistance measurements of layers prepared with Cu/Super-P demonstrate that the electronic resistance decreases of about half with respect to layers prepared with pristine Super-P. Additionally, the ac-impedance of Cu-modified electrodes is much lower than that of electrodes containing Super-P only. This implies an active role of the copper nanoparticles in improving the intercalation capacity, especially at low temperature. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.