Enhancing the performance of common electrode materials by means of atmospheric plasma spray coatings

Abstract

Atmospheric plasma spraying is used here to obtain titanium sub-oxide coatings on the following electrode substrates: a 316 stainless steel sheet, an aluminium alloy 2024 sheet, a carbon-polymer composite and nickel foam. It is necessary to increase the roughness of the substrate to aid the adhesion of the coating to the smooth electrodes; this is especially critical for the fragile carbon-polymer composite. High-energy conditions increase the strain caused by the mismatch between coefficients of thermal expansion when coating the thin steel and aluminium sheets, and degraded the carbon-polymer composite and nickel foam. Therefore, it is necessary to adjust the spraying parameters to lower-energy conditions in order to achieve well-bonded and homogeneous coatings on all four substrates and avoid the presence of cracks in their cross-section area. The suitability of the coated materials as battery electrodes was studied.