Preparation of Mechanical Alloying AlCuFe Alloy and Its Application in Li-Ion Battery Anode

Abstract

Aluminum has high lithium storage capacity and poor cycle performance as one kind of new advanced material. In this paper, Al₆₄Cu_23.5Fe_12.5 alloy was prepared by mechanical alloying with pure Al, Cu, and Fe powder as the initial materials and the electrochemical lithium storage performance of AlCuFe ternary alloy was studied. The effects of different milling device and experimental parameters on the microstructure of the alloy were also studied. Magnetic measurement was performed on alloy under different MA state. The results of XRD show that the peak of the elemental phase widens with the increase of the grinding time. New phase appears at about 75 h. It is found that the magnetism of the alloy is weakened with the formation of the new alloy. The discharge capacity of AlCuFe increase with longer milling time. After a long milling time of 100 h in 500 rmp, Al₆₄Cu_23.5Fe_12.5 alloy exhibites the highest first discharge capacities of 314 mAh g⁻¹. Then the capacity gradually decays in the first 20 cycles and stabilizes at a range of 175–200 mAh g⁻¹, which corresponds to 68% of initial capacity. Compared with pure Al, AlCuFe alloy-show better cycle stability, this facile MA approach provides helpful synergistic effects.