ABSTRACT
Nanofilms of metals alloying and not alloying with lithium were prepared by physical vapor deposition and used as active electrode materials for electrochemical lithiation/delithiation at ambient temperatures. A significant lithium storage capacity was achieved even with metals that were known to not alloy with lithium, which we ascribed to lithium being stored in the vicinity of metaloxygen bonds formed on the nanoparticles surfaces and in the grain boundaries. In metals forming alloys with lithium, a much larger capacity was achieved owing to successive alloys formation. Galvanostatic charge and discharge profiles showed successive voltage plateaus matching with current peaks in the corresponding cyclic voltammograms. The expected crystal lattice expansion upon the metal alloying with lithium, which causes capacity decay upon
premature cycling was mitigated by the nanosize character of the metal film domains, preventing them from decrepitating.
