Crumpled Graphene-Encapsulated Si Nanoparticles for Lithium Ion Battery Anodes
- Technology Benefits
- Greatly improves Li ion battery performance in terms of capacity, cycling stability and coulombic efficiency Rapid, facile and high-throughput Allows continuous mode of operation and is readily scalableNo requirement of extensive engineering of Si nanoparticles Concept can be extended to envelop expandable particles in other applications
- Detailed Technology Description
- A rapid, high-throughput method to prepare crumpled capsules of graphene-wrapped Si nanoparticles for Li ion battery anode applications. #materials #graphene/graphite #energy #batteries #nanotechnology
- *Abstract
-
Northwestern researchers developed a rapid, high-throughput one-step method to fabricate composite capsules made of Si nanoparticles wrapped by crumpled graphene shells. The large volume expansion of Si as a battery anode material upon the insertion of the cathode ions (Li) leads to particle surface cracking and the deposition of an insulation layer, which causes drastic battery performance deterioration. As opposed to native Si particles, the folds in the crumpled graphene shells can accommodate the volume fluctuation of the encapsulated Si. As a result, the composite capsules have greatly improved performance as Li ion battery anode in terms of capacity, cycling stability and coulombic efficiency.
Figure 1. Scanning electron microscopic images of composite capsules.
Figure 2. Performance comparison between encapsulated Si and native Si particles
- *Inventors
- Jiaxing Huang* Hee Dong Jang Jiayan Luo
- Country/Region
- USA
