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Colloidal Nanocrystals of Lithiated Group 14 Elements
Author(s) -
Cloud Jacqueline E.,
Wang Yonglong,
Yoder Tara S.,
Taylor Lauren W.,
Yang Yongan
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
angewandte chemie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1521-3757
pISSN - 0044-8249
DOI - 10.1002/ange.201408108
Subject(s) - nanocrystal , passivation , ball mill , materials science , lithium (medication) , crystal structure , colloid , group (periodic table) , ion , chemical engineering , nanotechnology , crystallography , chemistry , metallurgy , organic chemistry , medicine , layer (electronics) , endocrinology , engineering
The synthesis of colloidal nanocrystals (NCs) of lithiated group 14 elements (Z=Si, Ge, and Sn) is reported, which are Li 4.4 Si, Li 3.75 Si, Li 4.4 Ge, and Li 4.4 Sn. Li x Z compounds are highly reactive and cannot be synthesized by existing methods. The success relied on separating the surface protection from the crystal formation and using a unique passivating ligand. Bare Li x Z crystals were first produced by milling elemental Li and Z in an argon‐filled jar. Then, under the assistance of additional milling, hexyllithium was added to passivate the freshly generated Li x Z NCs. This ball‐milling‐assisted surface protection method may be generalized to similar systems, such as Na x Z and K x Z. Moreover, Li 4.4 Si and Li 4.4 Ge NCs were conformally encapsulated in carbon fibers, providing great opportunities for studying the potential of using Li x Z to mitigate the volume‐fluctuation‐induced poor cyclability problem confronted by Z anodes in lithium‐ion batteries.