Characteristics of Sn-Ni alloy powders directly prepared by spray pyrolysis

Fine size Sn-Ni alloy powders with spherical shape were directly prepared by spray pyrolysis. The alloy powders prepared at temperatures below 1200 °C had bimodal size distributions of nano- and submicron-sized powders. Nano-sized powders were formed by chemical vapor deposition process from the evaporated Sn component. The powders had main peaks of Sn-Ni alloys irrespective of the preparation temperatures. Ni and Sn components are well dispersed inside the submicron-sized powders. The initial discharge capacity of the Sn-Ni alloy powders prepared at a temperature of 1100 °C was 477 mAh/g. However, the initial discharge capacity of the Sn-Ni alloy powders prepared at temperature of 1000 and 1200 °C temperature were 255 and 411 mAh/g respectively. The Sn-Ni alloy powders prepared at a temperature of 1100 °C had more good cycle performance than those prepared at temperatures of 1000 and 1200 °C.