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

• Published in: Rare metals 2013-06, Vol.32 (3), p.299-304
• Main Authors: Li, Tao, Yang, Juan-Yu, Lu, Shi-Gang, Wang, Han, Ding, Hai-Yang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anodes; Biomaterials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Cycles; Electrodes; Energy; Failure mechanisms; Lithium batteries; Lithium-ion batteries; Materials Engineering; Materials Science; Metallic Materials; Nanoscale Science and Technology; Physical Chemistry; Scanning electron microscopy; Silicon; X-射线衍射; 体硅; 失效机理; 循环过程; 扫描电子显微镜; 电极结构; 锂离子电池; 阳极
• ISSN: 1001-0521; 1867-7185
• DOI: 10.1007/s12598-013-0045-x

Silicon has been investigated extensively as a promising anode material for rechargeable lithium-ion bat- teries. 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 sil- icon anode electrode for lithium-ion batteries.