Engineered Si Sandwich Electrode: Si Nanoparticles/Graphite Sheet Hybrid on Ni Foam for Next-Generation High-Performance Lithium-Ion Batteries

• Published in: ACS applied materials & interfaces 2015-01, Vol.7 (3), p.1693-1698
• Main Authors: Gao, Chunhui, Zhao, Hailei, Lv, Pengpeng, Zhang, Tianhou, Xia, Qing, Wang, Jie
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1944-8244; 1944-8252
• DOI: 10.1021/am5072755

Si-based electrodes for lithium ion batteries typically exhibit high specific capacity but poor cycling performance. A possible strategy to improve the cycling performance is to design a novel electrode nanostructure. Here we report the design and fabrication of Ni/Si-nanoparticles/graphite clothing hybrid electrodes with a sandwich structure. An efficient dip-coating of Si-NPs combined with carbon deposition was adopted to synthesize the unique architecture, where the Si-NPs are sandwiched between the Ni matrix and the graphite clothing. This material architecture offers many critical features that are desirable for high-performance Si-based electrodes, including efficient ion diffusion, high conductivity, and structure durability, thus ensuring the electrode with outstanding electrochemical performance (reversible capacity of 1800 mA h g–1 at 2 A g–1 after 500 cycles). In addition, the hybrid anode does not require any polymeric binder and conductive additives and holds great potential for application in Li-ion batteries.