Nano-oxides fabricated in-situ spray pyrolysis technique as anode materials for lithium secondary batteries

The aim of this study is to investigate various nano-structured metal oxides (MO, M =Co, Ni and Sn) prepared by the in-situ spray pyrolysis technique as anode electrodes in lithium-ion rechargeable batteries. Today's research on anode materials for the Li-ion technology is mainly focused on (a) enhancing the electrochemical characteristics of the carbonaceous anode electrode by chemical (pyrolytic processing of organic materials) orphysical (mechanical milling of carbons) means and (b) finding alternative materials to substitute for the presently used carbonaceous anode electrode composites. Variousnano-structured transition-metal oxides and tin oxides have been proven to be promising anodes since the compounds can deliver much higher reversible capacities than graphite and generally have good cycle stability. These could be prepared by various methods such as sputtering, the spray method, chemical vapor deposition, vacuum evaporation, electron beam evaporation and sol-gel techniques. Spray pyrolysis is a versatile technique for in-situ production of various materials, which has the following advantages: (a) one-step, simple, with cheap equipment; (b) universal precursors (inorganic, organic or metal-organic compounds); (c) easy and precise composition control; (d) various film morphologies possible; and (e) accurate control of the deposition kinetics. Characterization of nano-structured C03O4, CoO, NiO and Sn02 prepared by the in-situ spray pyrolysis technique and their electrochemical properties anode materials for lithium secondary batteries were studied systematically. Sn02 carbon composite was tested as a novel anode material, and promising improvements were achieved.