High Surface Area Electrode Materials by Derect Metallization of Porous Substrates

Recent advances in high surface area (HSA) electrode materials have played an important role in the development of high-performance batteries and fuel cells. HSA electrodes can significantly increase the power-density of batteries and fuel cells by enhancing the heterogeneous electrochemical reaction rate and concurrently reducing battery and fuel cell size and weight. The compactness of HSA electrodes can also reduce the ohmic potential drop, which has the clear advantage of reducing power losses. This paper reports results on utilizing direct metallization of porous substrates to prepare new HSA electrode materials. Specifically, Nickel HSA electrode materials, relevant to the Ni-Cd and metal-hydride rechargeable batteries, were prepared on porous carbon substrates by direct thermolysis of organometallic precursors and/or electroless Ni plating. SEM and XPS characterization results indicate a Ni metallic film was conformally coated over the porous carbon skeleton. The real electroactive areas were determined electrochemically in NaOH solution and results will be discussed in correlation with the metallization conditions.