Large-area copper nanofoam with hierarchical structure for use as electrode
AssigneeCellMo Materials Innovation, Inc.
InventorsGigap Han, Hyeji Park, Kicheol Hong, Heeman Choe
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Abstract
A facile method is based on a pack-cementation process using large-area copper foil instead of copper powder. By controlling a pack-cementation time and an amount of alloying element (e.g., aluminum), a hierarchical microporous or nanoporous copper can be created. When coated with tin active material, the hierarchical microporous or nanoporous copper can be used as an advanced lithium-ion battery anode. A coin-cell test exhibited a four-fold higher areal capacity (e.g., 7.4 milliamp-hours per square centimeter without any performance degradation up to 20 cycles) as compared to a traditional graphite anode.
Claims28
A method comprising:
- using pack cementation to manufacture a precursor alloy of aluminum and copper, wherein the pack cementation comprises an in-situ chemical vapor deposition of a coating of the aluminum on the copper, and the precursor alloy is in the form of a foil;
- dealloying the precursor alloy, wherein the aluminum is removed during the dealloying, thereby forming nanoscale copper struts and pores throughout a specimen of hierarchical microporous or nanoporous copper or full nanoporous copper;
- and
- obtaining the specimen.
A method comprising:
- manufacturing a precursor alloy using pack cementation at a temperature from 400 degrees Celsius to 900 degrees Celsius,
- wherein the precursor alloy is in the form of a foil, and the foil of the precursor alloy comprises an aluminum-copper alloy, and the aluminum possesses greater corrosiveness than copper;
- dealloying the precursor alloy in a dealloying solution, wherein the dealloying solution is a 0.01 molar to 20 molar hydrochloric acid solution and at 20 degrees Celsius to 100 degrees Celsius, thereby forming nanoscale copper struts and pores throughout a specimen of hierarchical microporous or nanoporous copper or full nanoporous copper;
- and
- obtaining the specimen comprising a pore size from 10 nanometers to 10 microns.
A method comprising:
- mixing aluminum and copper powders to obtain an aluminum-copper mixture;
- packing and sealing the aluminum-copper mixture in an envelope;
- forming a precursor alloy of aluminum and copper by pack cementation of the aluminum-copper mixture in an envelope;
- homogenizing the precursor alloy by heat treatment;
- dealloying the precursor alloy, wherein the aluminum metal of the precursor alloy is removed during the dealloying, thereby forming nanoscale copper struts and pores throughout a specimen of hierarchical microporous or nanoporous copper or full nanoporous copper to obtain a nanoporous copper specimen.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.