Web of carbon fibers coated with 3D snowflake-shaped Ni3S2/Ni produced by electroless Ni plating

We fabricated webs of carbon fibers coated with Ni3S2/Ni particles having three-dimensional snowflake shapes by using electrospinning and electroless-plating methods in order to obtain high-performance cathode materials for lithium batteries. These snowflake shapes, i.e., spheres with urchin-like surfaces, can be expected to yield large surface areas, excellent electrical conductivity and high penetrability of electrolytes into the web structure. A lithium battery cell using the cathode materials we fabricated was indeed found to exhibit good cycling stability and specific capacity (initial discharge capacity of 554.67mAh/g, irreversible capacity of about 50mAh/g) and to retain 65% of its capacity after 30cycles. Therefore, this new fabrication method should help produce rechargeable lithium batteries consisting of three-dimensional electrode materials with many reactive sites and with superior electrolyte penetrability.