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Failure mechanism of bulk silicon anode electrodes for lithium-ion batteries

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Abstract

Silicon has been investigated extensively as a promising anode material for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. Understanding the failure mechanism of silicon-based anode electrodes for lithium-ion batteries is essential to solve the problem of low coulombic efficiency and capacity fading on cycling and also to further commercialize this very new energetic material in cells. To reach this goal, the structure changes of bulk silicon particles and electrode after cycling were studied using ex-situ scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. The SEM images indicated that the microstructural changes of the bulk silicon particles during cycling led to a layer rupture of the electrode and then the breakdown of the conductive network and the failure of the electrode. The result contributes to the basic understanding of the failure mechanism of a bulk silicon anode electrode for lithium-ion batteries.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51004016 and 51004017) and the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (Nos.2012AA110102 and 2011AA11A269).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Center of Analysis and Testing for Nonferrous Metals and Electronic Materials, General Research Institute for Nonferrous Metals, Beijing, 100088, China

    Tao Li

  2. R&D Center for Vehicle Battery and Energy Storage, General Research Institute for Nonferrous Metals, Beijing, 100088, China

    Juan-Yu Yang, Shi-Gang Lu, Han Wang & Hai-Yang Ding

Authors
  1. Tao Li
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  2. Juan-Yu Yang
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  3. Shi-Gang Lu
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  4. Han Wang
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  5. Hai-Yang Ding
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shi-Gang Lu.

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Li, T., Yang, JY., Lu, SG. et al. Failure mechanism of bulk silicon anode electrodes for lithium-ion batteries. Rare Met. 32, 299–304 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12598-013-0045-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12598-013-0045-x

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