Recent Progress in Synthesis and Application of Low-Dimensional Silicon Based Anode Material for Lithium Ion Battery

Abstract

Silicon is regarded as the next generation anode material for LIBs with its ultra-high theoretical capacity and abundance. Nevertheless, the severe capacity degradation resulting from the huge volume change and accumulative solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) formation hinders the silicon based anode material for further practical applications. Hence, a variety of methods have been applied to enhance electrochemical performances in terms of the electrochemical stability and rate performance of the silicon anodes such as designing nanostructured Si, combining with carbonaceous material, exploring multifunctional polymer binders, and developing artificial SEI layers. Silicon anodes with low-dimensional structures (0D, 1D, and 2D), compared with bulky silicon anodes, are strongly believed to have several advanced characteristics including larger surface area, fast electron transfer, and shortened lithium diffusion pathway as well as better accommodation with volume changes, which leads to improved electrochemical behaviors. In this review, recent progress of silicon anode synthesis methodologies generating low-dimensional structures for lithium ion batteries (LIBs) applications is listed and discussed.

Preparation of graphene-like carbon attached porous silicon anode by magnesiothermic and nickel-catalyzed reduction reactions

“…5d. The sharp scattering peak at 500 cm −1 in Fig.5d corresponded to the characteristic scattering peak of silicon, and the peaks at 1328 cm −1 and 1607 cm −1 corresponded to the D band (sp 3 disordered carbon) and G band (sp 2 hybridized graphitic layers) of carbon material, respectively [32]. These two characteristic carbon peaks represented the disorder degree and graphitization degree of carbon material.…”

“…Silicon has the similar lithium insertion potential as carbon materials for lithiumion batteries. However, during the charging and discharging process, the silicon anode material has an enormous volume extension, resulting in the cracking and pulverization of silicon particles, followed by sudden increase of internal resistance of lithiumion battery and rapid fading of specific capacity in 10 cycles [2,3]. Unstable solid electrolyte interface (SEI) film of Si electrode during lithiation/delithiation, as well as the poor electron conductivity have seriously restricted its commercial application [4].…”

An overview on efforts to enhance the Si electrode stability for lithium ion batteries

“…There are many efforts to reduce stress on the Si anode. The surface of Si can be enlarged by nanostructuring to create a structural buffer space to accommodate volume expansion of Si during lithiation . Additionally, when the Si particle size is decreased from microsize down to nanometer range (diameter less than 100 nm), the surface area for charge transfer is higher and the expected diffusion length for Li ions is shorter, which makes a complete alloying/dealloying reaction much more possible in each cycle …”

Strategies for Controlling or Releasing the Influence Due to the Volume Expansion of Silicon inside Si−C Composite Anode for High-Performance Lithium-Ion Batteries

“…Silicon is considered among the foremost anode materials with potential for nextgeneration LIBs [11]. However, during cycling, the volume of the silicon anode material expands (>300%) [25,26], the silicon particles crack and disintegrate, and then the inner resistance of the LIBs increases, diminishing its capacity [27][28][29][30].…”