Polyaniline/Copper Composite Anode Current Collectors Prepared through Electrochemical Polymerization for Lithium‐Ion Batteries

Abstract Herein, a new type of composite anode with a Cu foil current collector modified with polyaniline (PANI) was prepared (PANI/Cu). SEM manifests that the PANI layer is 1.8 μm thick and composed of PANI particles with a diameter of 50 nm nanometers, which provides a large contact surface area to enhance the strength of adhesion to the electrode material. FTIR and UV/Vis analysis confirmed that the PANI layer existed in the emeraldine (conductive) form. Half‐cells were assembled by using PANI/Cu and bare/Cu (both coated with Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 electrode material) as the working electrode, and Li wafers as the counter electrode. Cycling performance tests demonstrated that, after cycling for 500 cycles at 1 C, the discharge capacity was 155.0 mAh g −1 and 137.6 mAh g −1 for PANI/Cu battery and bare/Cu battery, respectively. Electrochemical impedance revealed the impedance of the PANI/Cu battery is decreased effectively by the PANI layer.