Year
2017
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Department
Institute for Superconducting and Electronic Materials
Abstract
Silicon anode is a promising candidate for lithium ion batteries (LIBs). Unfortunately, its commercial application is hindered by the low conductivity and poor structural stability due to the large volume expansion after lithium insertion. Porous structured silicon/carbon (Si/C) composites are promising anode materials for LIBs because of the high conductivity from the carbon matrix and the introduced inside void space which can absorb the big volume expansion of silicon nanoparticles (Si NPs) during charging/discharging processes, leading to improved rate performance and cycling stability.
Three different porous structured Si/C anode materials in which silicon nanoparticles uniformly embedded inside the porous carbon matrix were prepared in this doctoral thesis. Acetylene, polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and oleic acid were employed as three different carbon resources to produce the carbon matrix. In addition, we used two different templating methods to prepare the sacrificial coating layers on the outer surface of silicon nanoparticles (Si NPs) and create the final porous structure after acid washing processes.
Recommended Citation
Zhang, Lei, Novel Si Based Composite Materials as Anodes for Energy Storage, Doctor of Philosophy thesis, Institute for Superconducting and Electronic Materials, University of Wollongong, 2017. https://ro.uow.edu.au/theses1/110
Unless otherwise indicated, the views expressed in this thesis are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the University of Wollongong.