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Boosting lithium storage performance of Si nanoparticles via thin carbon and nitrogen/phosphorus co-doped two-dimensional carbon sheet dual encapsulation

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Abstract

Silicon (Si) is a promising anode candidate for next-generation lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), but it suffers from poor electronic conductivity and dramatic volume variation during cycling, which poses a critical challenge for stable battery operation. To mitigate these issues simultaneously, we propose a “double carbon synergistic encapsulation” strategy, namely thin carbon shell and nitrogen/phosphorus co-doped two-dimensional (2D) carbon sheet dual encapsulate Si nanoparticles (denoted as 2D NPC/C@Si). This double carbon structure can serve as a conductive medium and buffer matrix to accommodate the volume expansion of Si nanoparticles and enable fast electron/ion transport, which promotes the formation of a stable solid electrolyte interphase film during cycling. Through structural advantages, the resulting 2D NPC/C@Si electrode demonstrates a high reversible capacity of 592 mAh·g−1 at 0.2 A·g−1 with 90.5% excellent capacity retention after 100 cycles, outstanding rate capability (148 mAh·g−1 at 8 A·g−1), and superior long-term cycling stability (326 mAh·g−1 at 1 A·g−1 for 500 cycles, 86% capacity retention). Our findings elucidate the development of high-performance Si@C composite anodes for advanced LIBs.

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Acknowledgements

This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 52072323, 21805278 and 51872098), the Leading Project Foundation of Science Department of Fujian Province (No. 2018H0034), the “Double-First Class” Foundation of Materials and Intelligent Manufacturing Discipline of Xiamen University, the Opening Project of National Joint Engineering Research Center for Abrasion Control and Molding of Metal Materials, and Henan Key Laboratory of High-temperature Structural and Functional Materials, Henan University of Science and Technology (No. HKDNM2019013).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Materials, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, China

    Cheng-Zhi Ke, Fang Liu, Zhi-Ming Zheng, He-He Zhang, Meng-Ting Cai, Miao Li & Qiao-Bao Zhang

  2. Xiamen Institute of Rare Earth Materials, Haixi Institutes, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, 361021, China

    Hui-Xin Chen

  3. Department of Nanoengineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA

    Qi-Zhang Yan

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  1. Cheng-Zhi Ke
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  2. Fang Liu
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Correspondence to Qiao-Bao Zhang.

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Ke, CZ., Liu, F., Zheng, ZM. et al. Boosting lithium storage performance of Si nanoparticles via thin carbon and nitrogen/phosphorus co-doped two-dimensional carbon sheet dual encapsulation. Rare Met. 40, 1347–1356 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12598-021-01716-1

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