Abstracts Category : Other

Electrochemically prepared metal antimonide nanostructures for lithium ion and sodium ion battery anodes

by Everett D Jackson

The use of energy fundamentally enables and globally supports post-industrial economies and is critical to all aspects of modern society. In recent years, it has become apparent that we will require superior energy technologies to support our society, including improved methods of generating, storing, and utilizing energy resources. Battery technology occupies a critical part of this new energy economy, and the development of electrochemical energy storage devices will be a critical factor for the successful implementation of renewable energy generation and efficiency strategies at the grid, transportation, and consumer levels. Current batteries suffer from limitations in energy density, power density, longevity, and overall cost. In addition, the inherent tradeoffs required in battery design make it impossible to create a single battery that is perfect for all applications. To overcome these issues, the development of low-cost and high-throughput methods, new strategies for materials design, and a comprehensive understanding of electrochemical mechanisms for battery performance is necessary. Herein, an in-depth study on the electrochemistry of a model anode system for rechargeable batteries based on metal antimony alloys produced through an electroplating approach is detailed. The first chapter of this dissertation provides a brief introduction of lithium ion and sodium ion battery technology. In the second chapter, a detailed review of the literature on antimony and metal antimonide alloys for battery anodes is provided. The third chapter details a study on copper antimonide thin films with varying stoichiometry produced through a facile electrodeposition process. In the fourth chapter, stoichiometric Cu2Sb thin films are studied as potential anodes for sodium ion batteries. The fifth chapter details the development of a process for electroplating zinc-antimony alloy thin films onto zinc and their electrochemical properties in sodium ion cells. The sixth and seventh chapters report the synthesis and characterization of copper-antimony alloy nanowire arrays produced through an alumina-templated process. These nanowire arrays are first used in an electrolyte-additive study to show the importance of surface stabilization for high surface area electrodes in chapter five. In chapter six, the rate performance is characterized under different thermal conditions for different compositions of copper-antimony alloy nanowire arrays as an assessment of the kinetic limitations of this electrode. The final chapter briefly describes some preliminary experiments that have been performed on characterizing the electrochemistry of metal salts in a deep eutectic solvent as a potential method for co-deposition of new metal antimonides.Advisors/Committee Members: Prieto, Amy (advisor), Rappe, Anthony (committee member), Dandy, David (committee member), Bailey, Travis (committee member), Henry, Charles (committee member).