Molecular Spring Enabled High-Performance Anode for Lithium Ion Batteries

Abstract

Flexible butyl interconnection segments are synthetically incorporated into an electronically conductive poly(pyrene methacrylate) homopolymer and its copolymer. The insertion of butyl segment makes the pyrene polymer more flexible, and can better accommodate deformation. This new class of flexible and conductive polymers can be used as a polymer binder and adhesive to facilitate the electrochemical performance of a silicon/graphene composite anode material for lithium ion battery application. They act like a "spring" to maintain the electrode mechanical and electrical integrity. High mass loading and high areal capacity, which are critical design requirements of high energy batteries, have been achieved in the electrodes composed of the novel binders and silicon/graphene composite material. A remarkable area capacity of over 5 mAh/cm 2 and volumetric capacity of over 1700 Ah/L have been reached at a high current rate of 333 mA/g.

A Nanowire Nest Structure Comprising Copper Silicide and Silicon Nanowires for Lithium‐Ion Battery Anodes with High Areal Loading

“…However, further refinements in Cu weight are needed to compete with the lightweight Cu foils (5-15 µm) used in slurry-based electrodes. [99][100][101][102][103] The stable capacity behavior observed for Si/CuSi coincided with the formation of a robust interconnected framework of nanometer-sized Si ligaments, capable of overcoming stressinduced fracturing of the SEI layer upon repeated expansion and contraction of the active material. [1,2,62,68,[108][109][110] SEM of Si/CuSi (1.24 mg cm −2 ) after 5 and 50 cycles (Figure 6a,b) allowed the evolution of the crystalline Si NWs to an amorphous Si mesh to be tracked.…”

“…Table S2, Supporting Information, compares this work to similar high loading nano-Si systems in terms of synthetic procedure, achievable Si loading, corresponding areal capacity and electrode thickness. Direct growth of Si NWs on a 3D textured CuSi NW structure has advantages over conventional slurry-based Si systems, [99][100][101][102][103] improving contact with the current collector and eliminating dead weight from inactive binders/additives. Notably, our work differs from other previously reported binder-free Si growth procedures, [30,58,[104][105][106] as there is no requisite for a catalyst pre-treatment step, that is, solvent evaporation, electrodeposition, thermal evaporation.…”

Boosting the Oxidative Potential of Polyethylene Glycol‐Based Polymer Electrolyte to 4.36 V by Spatially Restricting Hydroxyl Groups for High‐Voltage Flexible Lithium‐Ion Battery Applications

“…However, compared to inorganic solid electrolytes and liquid electrolytes, polymer electrolytes suffer from significant drawbacks in low ionic conductivity and narrow electrochemical stability window. Several methods such as grafting, [ 7 , 8 ] cross‐linking, [ 9 , 10 ] blending, [ 11 , 12 ] copolymerization, [ 13 , 14 ] organic–inorganic compounding, [ 15 , 16 ] and preparation of gel electrolytes, [ 17 , 18 ] etc. have been extensively investigated to remarkably improve the ionic conductivity of polymer electrolytes.…”

Maleamic Acid as an Organic Anode Material in Lithium-Ion Batteries

“…Organic electrode materials, including conductive polymer [5][6][7], organosulfur [8], organic free radical [9], and carbonyl [10][11][12][13][14] compounds have been considered promising anode materials for…”