A nano-architectured porous electrode assembly of copper rich Cu6Sn5 thin film for rechargeable lithium batteries

Cu and Sn are codeposited on a copper substrate via electron beam evaporation deposition method to form a nano porous thin film anode. The galvanostatic charge-discharge results show that the nano porous Cu6.26Sn5 thin film performs 784 mAh g (1) as first discharge capacity. A capacity fade is observed during the first three cycles, this sharp capacity decay has disappeared and a progressive increase in the capacity is observed up to 40th cycles. Then, a steady state regime has begun and continued up to 60th cycles. The enhanced electrochemical properties of the nano porous, structured Cu-Sn composite thin film is attributed to its particular composition, morphology and structure. (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier B.V.