Spray-pyrolyzed silicon/disordered carbon nanocomposites for lithium-ion battery anodes

Authors

See How Ng, University of WollongongFollow
Jiazhao Wang, University of WollongongFollow
Konstantin K. Konstantinov, University of WollongongFollow
David Wexler, University of WollongongFollow
Sau Yen Chew, University of WollongongFollow
Zaiping Guo, University of WollongongFollow
Hua-Kun Liu, University of WollongongFollow

RIS ID

22485

Publication Details

Ng, S., Wang, J., Konstantinov, K. K., Wexler, D., Chew, S., Guo, Z. & Liu, H. K. (2007). Spray-pyrolyzed silicon/disordered carbon nanocomposites for lithium-ion battery anodes. Journal of Power Sources, 174 (2), 823-827.

Abstract

A new and effective approach to prepare carbon-coated Si nanocomposites as high capacity anode materials for lithium-ion batteries with markedly improved electrochemical performance is described. Initially, nanosized Si particles (<100 >nm) were mixed with different concentrations of the carbon source precursor, citric acid in ethanol solution via ultrasonication. Spray pyrolysis of these mixtures at 400 Degrees C in air resulted in an amorphous carbon coating on the spherical Si nanoparticles. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) analysis confirms a homogeneous layer of amorphous carbon coating of 10 nm. These resultant nanocomposites show excellent cycling performance, especially when the disordered carbon (DC) content is above 50 wt.%. The 44Si/56DC nanocomposite shows the highest specific capacity retention of 1120 mAh g1 after 100 cycles. The carbon-coating on the nanocrystalline Si particles appears to be the main reason for the good cyclability, suggesting the excellent potential of these Si/DC-based nanocomposites for use as alternative anodes for lithium-ion batteries.