Nano-vault architecture mitigates stress in silicon-based anodes for lithium-ion batteries
Open Access
- 5 February 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Communications Materials
- Vol. 2 (1), 1-10
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s43246-021-00119-0
Abstract
Nanomaterials undergoing cyclic swelling-deswelling benefit from inner void spaces that help accommodate significant volumetric changes. Such flexibility, however, typically comes at a price of reduced mechanical stability, which leads to component deterioration and, eventually, failure. Here, we identify an optimised building block for silicon-based lithium-ion battery (LIB) anodes, fabricate it with a ligand- and effluent-free cluster beam deposition method, and investigate its robustness by atomistic computer simulations. A columnar amorphous-silicon film was grown on a tantalum-nanoparticle scaffold due to its shadowing effect. PeakForce quantitative nanomechanical mapping revealed a critical change in mechanical behaviour when columns touched forming a vaulted structure. The resulting maximisation of measured elastic modulus (~120 GPa) is ascribed to arch action, a well-known civil engineering concept. The vaulted nanostructure displays a sealed surface resistant to deformation that results in reduced electrode-electrolyte interface and increased Coulombic efficiency. More importantly, its vertical repetition in a double-layered aqueduct-like structure improves both the capacity retention and Coulombic efficiency of the LIB.Keywords
Funding Information
- Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University
This publication has 62 references indexed in Scilit:
- Fracture of crystalline silicon nanopillars during electrochemical lithium insertionProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2012
- Lithium-Assisted Plastic Deformation of Silicon Electrodes in Lithium-Ion Batteries: A First-Principles Theoretical StudyNano Letters, 2011
- Strain Anisotropies and Self‐Limiting Capacities in Single‐Crystalline 3D Silicon Microstructures: Models for High Energy Density Lithium‐Ion Battery AnodesAdvanced Functional Materials, 2011
- Visualization and analysis of atomistic simulation data with OVITO–the Open Visualization ToolModelling and Simulation in Materials Science and Engineering, 2009
- Efficient implementation of the concentration-dependent embedded atom method for molecular-dynamics and Monte-Carlo simulationsModelling and Simulation in Materials Science and Engineering, 2009
- Uniform Si nanostructures grown by oblique angle deposition with substrate swing rotationNanotechnology, 2005
- A vacuum deposited Si film having a Li extraction capacity over 2000 mAh/g with a long cycle lifeJournal of Power Sources, 2004
- Origins of Growth Stresses in Amorphous Semiconductor Thin FilmsPhysical Review Letters, 2003
- The contact mechanics of fractal surfacesNature Materials, 2003
- Optimal activation and diffusion paths of perfect events in amorphous siliconPhysical Review B, 2000