Consecutive chemical bonds reconstructing surface structure of silicon anode for high-performance lithium-ion battery

Abstract

The development of stable, high-energy electrode materials for lithium ion-batteries requires an elaborate effort to optimize the active materials as well as the chemical bonds and electron/ion transport in the electrode. However, hindered by the intrinsic structure and electrochemical degradation which is attributed to the volume expansion of materials, an increase in battery safety and reliability is concerned. Here, taking silicon as an example, we propose a strategy to stabilize this anode by successive chemical bonds reconstructing the surface. In this study, silicon nanoparticles are assembled in a carbon-copper framework via a facile and scalable pyrolysis process to provide a short-range electron transfer and pulverization suppression. Dissimilar to the current carbon coating methods, with the aid of Cu-O-C, Si-O-C, and Si-C chemical bonds, silicon hybridized reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and double-faced adhesive tape derived carbon composite (Si+rGO@DFAT-C) exhibits high structural integrity and immune to delamination. Hence, it demonstrates superior capacity (1536 mAh g−1 at 0.1 A g−1), high rate capability (1126 mAh g−1 at 2 A g−1), and stable electron stability (968.1 mAh g−1 after 200 cycles at 0.5 A g−1). This study emphasizes the crucial importance of well-tailor surface chemical bond reconstruction for the anode stabilization for high-performance LIBs.