Generating Silicon Nanofiber Clusters from Grinding Sludge by Millisecond Pulsed Laser Irradiation.

Ko Momoki,Akihito Kawai,Kyosuke Kobinata,Jiwang Yan,Kunimitsu Takahashi,Yoshikazu Kobayashi

doi:10.3390/nano10040812

Abstract

Silicon nanofiber clusters were successfully generated by the irradiation of millisecond pulsed laser light on silicon sludge disposed from wafer back-grinding processes. It was found that the size, intensity, and growing speed of the laser-induced plume varied with the gas pressure, while the size and morphology of the nanofibers were dependent on the laser pulse duration. The generated nanofibers were mainly amorphous with crystalline nanoparticles on their tips. The crystallinity and oxidation degree of the nanofibers depended on the preheating conditions of the silicon sludge. This study demonstrated the possibility of changing silicon waste into functional nanomaterials, which are possibly useful for fabricating high-performance lithium-ion battery electrodes.

Highlights

A huge amount of silicon sludge is continuously produced during the slicing and grinding processes of single-/poly-crystal silicon wafers in the manufacturing of semiconductor devices and solar cells
For example, silicon sludge was mixed with carbon nanofibers and sintered as a network-structured thick film by nanosecond pulsed laser irradiation [2]
A mixture of silicon sludge with metal nanoparticles was sintered by a focused infrared light beam to generate porous and electrically conductive thick films on copper foils [3]

Summary

Introduction

A huge amount of silicon sludge is continuously produced during the slicing and grinding processes of single-/poly-crystal silicon wafers in the manufacturing of semiconductor devices and solar cells. Attempts have been made to reuse the silicon sludge waste as a raw material for fabricating negative electrodes for lithium ion batteries (LiBs). For example, silicon sludge was mixed with carbon nanofibers and sintered as a network-structured thick film by nanosecond pulsed laser irradiation [2]. A mixture of silicon sludge with metal nanoparticles was sintered by a focused infrared light beam to generate porous and electrically conductive thick films on copper foils [3]. A nanosecond pulsed laser was used to process a mixture of silicon sludge and carbon black to generate silicon micro pillars on a copper foil, which showed ability for absorbing electrical charge-induced volume expansion of silicon and for performing as negative electrodes of LiBs [4]

Methods

Results

Conclusion