Production of Uniformly Sized Gallium-Based Liquid Alloy Nanodroplets via Ultrasonic Method and Their Li-Ion Storage

Abstract

Gallium-based liquid alloys are attractive due to their unique properties, and they can potentially be applied in the field of flexible electronics as coolant materials for nuclear and liquid batteries, due to the high thermal conductivity and excellent fluid properties of liquid metals. However, it is still challenging to fabricate gallium-based liquid alloy nanodroplets with uniform and small size. Here, we performed a systematical study on the influence of various factors affecting the size of nanodroplets. Liquid metal nanodroplets with an average size of 74 nm and narrow size distribution were successfully fabricated. Li-ion half-cells were assembled with eutectic GaIn (eGaIn) nanodroplets as anode active materials, which showed higher specific capacity than the bulk eGaIn alloy under the same testing conditions.

A Self-Healing Anode for Li-Ion Batteries by Rational Interface Modification of Room-Temperature Liquid Metal

“…Obviously, the amplitude can influence the size and size distribution of the EGaIn LMNPs. 22 Although a high amplitude can provide more energy and make the particle size smaller, too high of an amplitude also heats more, so that the merging process makes it difficult for particles to be further reduced. 25,26 Hence, the final particle size is balanced between breaking and merging.…”

“…The larger the amplitude used, the smaller the average particle size, and the more uniform the size distribution, which is beneficial to regulate the contact interface with the electrolyte. Obviously, the amplitude can influence the size and size distribution of the EGaIn LMNPs . Although a high amplitude can provide more energy and make the particle size smaller, too high of an amplitude also heats more, so that the merging process makes it difficult for particles to be further reduced. , Hence, the final particle size is balanced between breaking and merging.…”

“…The EGaIn LMNPs were synthesized by using a sonication method. − Typically, Ga and In were physically mixed (85.8 at. % Ga and 14.2 at.…”

“…Nanostructured materials could be used to ameliorate the interface between the electrodes and the electrolyte. Recently, Ga-based liquid metal nanoparticles (LMNPs) have been reported as an electroactive material for LIBs. − Kovalenko et al reported Ga LMNPs with small size as anode materials for LIBs. The specific capacity of the Ga LMNPs is higher than that of bulk Ga metal under the same testing conditions.…”

Gallium-Indium-Tin Eutectic as a Self-Healing Room-Temperature Liquid Metal Anode for High-Capacity Lithium-Ion Batteries

“…The long-term cycling performance measurements revealed that the cells took ~100 cycles to stabilize, which was also the case in other liquid metal-based alloy batteries such as gallium-indium eutectic [ 29 , 30 ]. After 100 stabilization cycles, the cells operated for more than 500 cycles, retaining 77% and 69% of the stable capacity after 500 cycles for the cells with GF and PE separators, respectively, as summarized in Table S2 .…”