Issue 38, 2024

Alleviating the volume expansion of silicon anodes by constructing a high-strength ordered multidimensional encapsulation structure

Abstract

The application of silicon-based nanomaterials in fast-charging scenarios is hindered by volume expansion during lithiation and side reactions induced by surface effects. Constructing a robust encapsulation structure with high mechanical strength and conductivity is pivotal for optimizing the electrochemical performance of nanostructured silicon anodes. Herein, we propose a multifaceted hierarchical encapsulation structure featuring excellent mechanical strength and high conductivity by sequentially incorporating SiOx, hard carbon, and closed-pore carbon layers around silicon quantum dots, thereby enabling stable cycling at high current densities. In this structure, the ultra-thin SiOx layer strengthens the Si–C interface, while the outermost carbon matrix with closed pores functions both as a conductive network and a barrier against electrolyte intrusion. Notably, the synthesized material exhibits a specific capacity of 1506 mA h g−1 with 90.17% retention after 300 cycles at 1.0 A g−1. After 500 cycles at 5.0 A g−1, it retains 640.4 mA h g−1, over 70% of its initial capacity.

Graphical abstract: Alleviating the volume expansion of silicon anodes by constructing a high-strength ordered multidimensional encapsulation structure

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
17 Jul 2024
Accepted
04 Sep 2024
First published
05 Sep 2024
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Chem. Sci., 2024,15, 15891-15899

Alleviating the volume expansion of silicon anodes by constructing a high-strength ordered multidimensional encapsulation structure

Y. Yu, H. Gong, X. He, L. Ming, X. Wang and X. Ou, Chem. Sci., 2024, 15, 15891 DOI: 10.1039/D4SC04751F

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications, without requesting further permission from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given and it is not used for commercial purposes.

To request permission to reproduce material from this article in a commercial publication, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party commercial publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements