Nanometer-Thick Gallic Acid Coatings Enhance the Electrochemical Performance of Silicon Anodes

Abstract

Due to the drawbacks of huge volume expansion upon lithiation/delithiation and surface corrosion by the electrolyte, silicon (Si) anodes for lithium ion batteries (LIBs) suffered from rapid capacity degradation. Herein, nano-Si was simply treated with a gallic acid (GA) solution to cover the Si surface with a nanometer-thick GA-layer. During surface treatment, GA formed an irreversible cross-linking structure, and it can be bonded to the surface of nano-Si via hydrogen bonds. The resulted