Anode properties of thick-film electrodes prepared by gas deposition of Ni-coated Si particles

Thick-film electrodes of Si particles coated with Ni, Ni-Sn, and Ni-P were fabricated by electroless deposition followed by gas deposition to form the anode of a Li-ion battery. The electrode of Ni-coated Si showed remarkably improved cycling performance with a discharge capacity of 580 mA h g-1 at the 1000th cycle, which is possibly caused by its higher elastic modulus than that of the uncoated Si electrode. The electrode of Si coated with Ni-P, which consisted of Ni3P, with the lower coating amount exhibited a higher initial capacity and excellent cycling performance with a capacity of 790 mA h g-1 at the 1000th cycle, whereas poor performance was obtained for the electrode of Si coated with Ni-Sn. The excellent performance in the case of Ni-P coating is attributed to the smaller amount of coating, the high elastic modulus, and the lower reactivity of Ni3P with Li ions in comparison with Ni3Sn in Ni-Sn.