Interfacial Processes On Single Crystal Si Electrodes in Organic Electrolytes

Silicon is a promising anode material for commercial Li-ion batteries mainly due to its high specific capacity of 4200 mAh/g.[1] However, the ke y problems are a large volumetric change ~ 310 % duri ng the lithiation/delithiation processes, poor intrins ic electronic conductivity of silicon, and interfacial instability of Si electrodes in organic electrolyte s.[2] These effects contribute to a poor electrochemical performance and low coulombic charge/discharge efficiency, especially during the first few cycles. Electrolyte additives such as vinylene carbonate (V C), fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC) and/or the use of th e CMC binder tends to improve the electrode cycle stability, and consequently battery lifetime and ef ficiency. [3,4,5,6,7,8]