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Facile Synthesis of Nickel Nanofoam Architectures for Applications in Li‐Ion Batteries
Author(s) -
Liu Chueh,
Li Changling,
Wang Wei,
Ozkan Mihrimah,
Ozkan Cengiz S.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
energy technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.91
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 2194-4296
pISSN - 2194-4288
DOI - 10.1002/ente.201600306
Subject(s) - materials science , foil method , oxalate , nickel , oxalic acid , chemical engineering , electrochemistry , metal , nanowire , alloy , nanotechnology , composite material , electrode , metallurgy , inorganic chemistry , chemistry , engineering
Metal foams are utilized in various applications, such as in the automotive industries and for electrochemical devices. Herein, a Ni nanofoam is synthesized using a facile method for Li‐ion batteries. Self‐aligned Ni wires or randomly linked webs are produced with or without magnetic field, respectively. Ni granular beads or spiky clusters form at 370 or 450 °C, respectively. The surface area of Ni wires is increased by oxalic acid etching at 80 °C using 5–30 wt % water, leading to Ni oxalate nanosheets, nanowires (NWs), or nanoleaves. Metallic Ni NWs are obtained by reducing Ni oxalate NWs with H 2 at 350 °C in 10 min. Carbon‐coated Si nanoparticles on Ni NW foam (C‐Si NP/Ni NWF) show 38 % rate enhancement (1222 vs. 889 mAh g −1 ) in comparison to C‐Si NP/Cu foil. Higher stability of C‐Si NP/Ni NWF with a capacity retention of 91 % is reached vs. 73 % for C‐Si NP/Cu foil over 180 cycles. The ambient‐pressure solution process with low temperature and fast reaction time could make large‐scale production plausible for these nanoarchitectures.