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Thin films of copper are widely used as current collectors for the negative electrodes in lithium-ion batteries. However, a major cause of battery failure is delamination between the current collector and the graphite anode. When silicon or tin is used as active material, delamination becomes a key issue owing to the large volume changes of these materials during lithation and delithation processes. Learning from Nature, we developed a new biomimetic approach based on the adhesion properties of the feet of geckos. The biomimetic approach improves adhesion between the laminate and the copper surface by introducing an array of Cu(OH)2 nanorods, which increases the surface area of the current collector. When graphite anode laminate is casted onto regular and a modified copper surfaces, the modified current collector displays superior adhesion to graphite and the PVDF binder-based electrode. The electrochemical performance of the batteries using these electrodes is not compromised by the additional chemistry of the Cu(OH)2 on the copper surface. The technique can lead to enhanced battery lifetimes over long-term cycling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 is regarded as a promising cathode material to increase the energy density of lithium-ion batteries due to the high discharge voltage (ca. 4.7 V). However, the interface between the LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 cathode and the electrolyte is a great concern because of the decomposition of the electrolyte on the cathode surface at high operational potentials. To build a stable and functional protecting layer of Li3PO4 on LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 to avoid direct contact between the active materials and the electrolyte is the emphasis of this study. Li3PO4-coated LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 is prepared by a solid-state reaction and noncoated LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 is prepared by the same method as a control. The materials are fully characterized by XRD, FT-IR, and high-resolution TEM. TEM shows that the Li3PO4 layer (<6 nm) is successfully coated on the LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 primary particles. XRD and FT-IR reveal that the synthesized Li3PO4-coated LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 has a cubic spinel structure with a space group of Fd $\bar 3$ m, whereas noncoated LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 shows a cubic spinel structure with a space group of P4332. The electrochemical performance of the prepared materials is characterized in half and full cells. Li3PO4-coated LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 shows dramatically enhanced cycling performance compared with noncoated LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We synthesized Fe3O4nanoparticle/reduced graphene oxide (RGO-Fe3O4) nanocomposites and evaluated their performance as anodes in both half and full coin cells. The nanocomposites were synthesized through a chemical co-precipitation of Fe2橷 Fe3 the presence of graphene oxides within an alkaline solution and a subsequent high-temperature reduction reaction in argon (Ar) environment. The morphology and microstructures of the fabricated RGO-Fe3O4nanocomposites were characterized using various techniques. The results indicated that the Fe3O4nanoparticles had relatively homogeneous dispersions on the RGO sheet surfaces. These as-synthesized RGO-Fe3O4nanocomposites were used as anodes for both half and full lithium-ion cells. Electrochemical measurement results exhibit a high reversible capacity which is about two and a half times higher than that of graphite-based anodes at a 0.05C rate, and an enhanced reversible capacity of about 200 mAh g−1even at a high charge/discharge rate of 10C (9260 mA g−1) in half cells. Most important of all, these fabricated novel nanostructures also show exceptional capacity retention with the assembled RGO-Fe3O4/LiNi1/3Mn1/3Co1/3O2full cell at different C rates. This outstanding electrochemical behavior can be attributed to the unique microstructure, morphology, texture, surface properties of the nanocomposites, and combinative effects from the different chemical composition in the nanocomposites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]