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Choice of the Composition of the Chloride Melts for the Electrochemical Synthesis of Silicon

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Abstract

The work is aimed at studying the kinetics of silicon electrodeposition from different chloride melts in order to select both optimal melt compositions and their electrolysis parameters. The study was carried out in KCl, KCl-CsCl and LiCl–KCl-CsCl melts with the addition of K2SiF6 at different temperatures depending on the melting point of each system. The optimal deposition potentials and current densities for electrolysis were determined by voltammetry. The LiCl–KCl-CsCl based melts are characterized by the highest silicon electrodeposition rates. Moreover, lowering lithium chloride content increase electrodeposition rates at the same other conditions. In LiCl–KCl-CsCl melt containing lithium chloride, the electrodeposition rate is highest in an electrolyte with a reduced LiCl content due to the lowest decomposition rate of the additive. Galvanostatic and potentiostatic electrolysis was carried out in the melts with different composition that have the highest rate of electrodeposition. It was found that continuous deposits occur in the LiCl–KCl-CsCl melt, while in other melts silicon is deposited in the form of fibers and dendrites. Fibers with a diameter of up to 0.7 μm were obtained in LiCl-free melts, and films consisting mainly of spherical grains with a diameter of up to 1 μm were obtained in a melt with lithium chloride.

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Data Availability

The authors declare that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article and its supplementary information are available by request.

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Acknowledgements

The research was supported by Russian Science Foundation, agreement 23-23-00361, https://rscf.ru/project/23-23-00361.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ural Federal University, Ekaterinburg, 620002, Russia

    Yulia A. Parasotchenko, Timofey A. Gevel, Olga B. Pavlenko, Leonid V. Gorshkov, Natalia M. Leonova, Andrey V. Suzdaltsev & Yury P. Zaikov

  2. Institute of High-Temperature Electrochemistry UB RAS, Ekaterinburg, 620137, Russia

    Olga B. Pavlenko, Andrey V. Suzdaltsev & Yury P. Zaikov

Authors
  1. Yulia A. Parasotchenko
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  2. Timofey A. Gevel
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  3. Olga B. Pavlenko
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  4. Leonid V. Gorshkov
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  5. Natalia M. Leonova
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  6. Andrey V. Suzdaltsev
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  7. Yury P. Zaikov
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Contributions

The manuscript was written by the contributions of all authors. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript. Yulia A. Parasotchenko – experimental data, original draft, visualization, translating. Timofey A. Gevel – electrochemical measurements, electrolysis, XRD analysis. Olga B. Pavlenko – electrolysis. Leonid V. Gorshkov – electrolysis, melts preparation, sediments washing. Natalia M. Leonova – SEM analysis. Andrey V. Suzdaltsev – original idea, methodology, supervision, original draft, reviewing. Yury P. Zaikov – scientific supporting.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrey V. Suzdaltsev.

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Highlights

• Silicon electrodeposition

• Novel low F chloride electrolytes

• Silicon fibers and films.

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Parasotchenko, Y.A., Gevel, T.A., Pavlenko, O.B. et al. Choice of the Composition of the Chloride Melts for the Electrochemical Synthesis of Silicon. Silicon 16, 1025–1032 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12633-023-02744-5

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