Issue 24, 2021

Enhancing the performance of hard carbon for sodium-ion batteries by coating with silicon nitride/oxycarbide nanoparticles

Abstract

A simple synthesis method to produce hard carbon decorated with silicon nitride or silicon oxycarbide nanoparticles was developed. Silicon tetrachloride is reacted with the hydroxide groups on cellulose (cotton wool) before carbonisation to form hard carbon. Use of a nitrogen or argon carbonisation atmosphere enables production of silicon nitride or oxycarbide coatings by carbothermal nitridation or reduction. This is the first time that a silicon nitride has been used in sodium-ion batteries, and it has a very high capacity. The incorporation of 7.9 wt% of silicon nitride produces an increase in the reversible (desodiation) capacity from 284 mA h g−1 for pure hard carbon to 351 mA h g−1 for the silicon nitride – hard carbon composite, at 50 mA g−1 in sodium half-cells. The associated silicon nitride capacity is estimated as 848 mA h g−1 when normalised by the mass of silicon nitride, ascribed to the good dispersion of silicon nitride nanoparticles on the hard carbon, and facile electrochemical reactions in the amorphous and non-stoichiometric silicon nitride. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) of the electrodes before and after cycling is used to elucidate the mechanism of sodium storage, involving formation of amorphous silicon, which then reacts with the electrolyte forming SiOx surface species.

Graphical abstract: Enhancing the performance of hard carbon for sodium-ion batteries by coating with silicon nitride/oxycarbide nanoparticles

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
14 Jul 2021
Accepted
17 Oct 2021
First published
19 Oct 2021
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Mater. Adv., 2021,2, 7956-7966

Enhancing the performance of hard carbon for sodium-ion batteries by coating with silicon nitride/oxycarbide nanoparticles

H. Cheng, N. Garcia-Araez and A. L. Hector, Mater. Adv., 2021, 2, 7956 DOI: 10.1039/D1MA00613D

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