Water-cooked Cu2O films for lithium-ion batteries

Cu2O films were directly synthesized by cooking copper plates in saturated CuSO4 solution. The resulting films exhibited interesting lithium storage capability as anodes of lithium-ion batteries. Desirable electrochemical performance was achieved after the Cu2O films were further coated with Ni particles via electroless plating. The factor that influenced the electrochemical performance of the films was investigated as well. The present finding provides an alternative method to fabricate transition metal oxide films for potential power source applications. (C) 2008 The Electrochemical Society.