Abstract
Metallic lithium (Li) anode batteries have attracted considerable attention due to their high energy density value. However, metallic Li is highly reactive and flammable, which makes Li anode batteries difficult to develop. In this work, for the first time, we report the synthesis of metallic Li-embedded carbon nanocomposites for easy and safe handling by a scalable ion beam-based method. We found that vertically standing conical Li-C nanocomposite (Li-C NC), sometimes with a nanofiber on top, can be grown on a graphite foil commonly used for the anodes of lithium-ion batteries. Metallic Li embedded inside the carbon matrix was found to be highly stable under ambient conditions, making transmission electron microscopy (TEM) characterization possible without any sophisticated inert gas-based sample fabrication apparatus. The developed ion beam-based fabrication technique was also extendable to the synthesis of stable Li-C NC films under ambient conditions. In fact, no significant loss of crystallinity or change in morphology of the Li-C film was observed when subjected to heating at 300 °C for 10 min. Thus, these ion-induced Li-C nanocomposites are concluded to be interesting as electrode materials for future Li-air batteries.
Highlights
With a global focus on clean and renewable energy, storage and transfer of electric energy at the grid scale is a challenge
Li-C nanocomposite (Li-C NC) was further characterized at higher magnification to confirm the presence of Li atoms
The fast Fourier transform (FFT) corresponding to the electron diffraction pattern taken around the white square clearly shows sharp diffraction points, indicating the presence of crystalline Li
Summary
With a global focus on clean and renewable energy, storage and transfer of electric energy at the grid scale is a challenge. Degradation of the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) during discharge followed by formation of a new SEI in the charging leads to the loss of Li from the anode, called dead Li. An increase in dead Li, as well as a decrease in the quantity of the electrolyte, effectively reduces the energy density and life cycle of the LIB with poor coulombic efficiency. A carbon matrix has been traditionally used to encapsulate metal/metal oxides, such as NiO, NiCo2O4, Fe2O3, Fe3O4, MnO2, CuO, ZnO, Ge and Sn/SnO2, forming carbon–metal composites used as anode materials for LIBs. A carbon-based scaffold prevents the large volumetric change during charge/discharge cycles, improving the performance of the battery [23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32]. We demonstrate the synthesis of highly stable conical and fibrous amorphous carbon with encapsulated Li nano-domains (Li-C nanocomposite; Li-C NC) on graphite foil as a candidate material for LIBs for easy and safe handling
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