A facile electrochemical synthesis of three-dimensional porous Sn-Cu alloy/carbon nanotube nanocomposite as anode of high-power lithium-ion battery

3D (three-dimensional) porous Sn-Cu alloy/carbon nanotube (CNT) nanocomposite is successfully produced by electrodeposition using a 3D porous Cu prepared by electroless plating as the substrate. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) results demonstrate that there are a large amount of interconnected pores with the diameter of about 3 μm in the nanocomposite, and the pore walls are composed of Sn-Cu alloy nanoparticles uniformly encapsulated on CNT networks. Owing to the 3D porous structure that can accommodate the volumetric variation and alleviate the stress caused from the large volumetric changes during charging/discharging, CNT networks can enhance the electrode strength and prevent active materials from exfoliation during charging/discharging through steel-reinforced concrete mechanism; this nanocomposite delivers excellent cyclability and large high-rate capacity. The first specific reversible capacity at the current density of 100 mA g−1 is 546.6 mAh g−1 and remains 370.1 mA g−1 after 100 cycles. The reversible specific capacity at 1600 mA g−1 remains 35.3 % of that at 200 mA g−1.