Lithium Ion Battery Performance of Silicon Nanowires With Carbon Skin
- Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States). Texas Materials Inst. (TMI)
- Univ. of Tokyo (Japan)
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Silicon (Si) nanomaterials have emerged as a leading candidate for next generation lithium-ion battery anodes. However, the low electrical conductivity of Si requires the use of conductive additives in the anode film. Here we report a solution-based synthesis of Si nanowires with a conductive carbon skin. Without any conductive additive, the Si nanowire electrodes exhibited capacities of over 2000 mA h g-1 for 100 cycles when cycled at C/10 and over 1200 mA h g-1 when cycled more rapidly at 1C against Li metal.. In situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation reveals that the carbon skin performs dual roles: it speeds lithiation of the Si nanowires significantly, while also constraining the final volume expansion. The present work sheds light on ways to optimize lithium battery performance by smartly tailoring the nanostructure of composition of materials based on silicon and carbon.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Environmental Molecular Sciences Lab. (EMSL)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 1123241
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-100065; 48170; 47476
- Journal Information:
- Nano Letters, Vol. 8, Issue 1; ISSN 1530-6984
- Publisher:
- American Chemical Society
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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