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The Strong Effect of Microporous Column Depth on the Lithiation-Delithiation Behavior in Si Electrodes for Li-Ion Cells and the Resistance to Mechanical Damage

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Abstract

Silicon microporous columnar structures possess inherent advantages for reversible lithium storage and high capacity, which make them attractive as potential negative electrodes for Li-ion batteries. This work demonstrates that a significant increase in Li storage capacity and cyclic performance can be achieved by increasing the depth of Si columns in the electrode. A set of electrodes with different column/pore depths were prepared by varying the etching time in direct electrochemical etching of (100) Si wafers. The other structural parameters, such as the porosity (52–60%) and Si mass fraction in the columns (0.40–0.48), were maintained nearly constant. The major finding of this work is that the specific capacity increased dramatically as the column/pore depth increased. Surprisingly, however, the post-cycling scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis indicated that the mechanical integrity of the electrodes during cycling increased with the column/pore depth. This improvement in mechanical stability of Si columns in the deeper columnar structure seems to explain the increased specific capacity and its stability over a large number of cycles.

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The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgments

The research was supported by the DOE Office of Science, Program on Neutron Scattering, through the Grant: DE-SC0019056.

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  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, 84121, USA

    R. Srinivasan & K. S. Ravi Chandran

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  1. R. Srinivasan
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Srinivasan, R., Ravi Chandran, K.S. The Strong Effect of Microporous Column Depth on the Lithiation-Delithiation Behavior in Si Electrodes for Li-Ion Cells and the Resistance to Mechanical Damage. J. Electron. Mater. 51, 857–875 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-021-09365-x

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