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Controlled synthesis of nanosized Si by magnesiothermic reduction from diatomite as anode material for Li-ion batteries

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Abstract

Li-ion batteries (LIBs) have demonstrated great promise in electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles. However, commercial graphite materials, the current predominant anodes in LIBs, have a low theoretical capacity of only 372 mAh·g-1, which cannot meet the ever-increasing demand of LIBs for high energy density. Nanoscale Si is considered an ideal form of Si for the fabrication of LIB anodes as Si-C composites. Synthesis of nanoscale Si in a facile, cost-effective way, however, still poses a great challenge. In this work, nanoscale Si was prepared by a controlled magnesiothermic reaction using diatomite as the Si source. It was found that the nanoscale Si prepared under optimized conditions (800°C, 10 h) can deliver a high initial specific capacity (3053 mAh·g-1 on discharge, 2519 mAh·g-1 on charge) with a high first coulombic efficiency (82.5%). When using sand-milled diatomite as a precursor, the obtained nanoscale Si exhibited a well-dispersed morphology and had a higher first coulombic efficiency (85.6%). The Si-C (Si: graphite = 1:7 in weight) composite using Si from the sand-milled diatomite demonstrated a high specific capacity (over 700 mAhg”1 at 100 mAg”1), good rate capability (587mAh·g-1 at 500 mA·g-1), and a long cycle life (480 mAh·g-1 after 200 cycles at 500 mA·g-1). This work gives a facile method to synthesize nanoscale Si with both high capacity and high first coulombic efficiency.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51572238), Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation (No. LY19E020013), and the Joint Research Project of Zhejiang University with Zotye Automobile Corporation Limited on Si-Based Anode Materials (No. P-ZH-2018-003).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China

    Li-fen Guo, Shi-yun Zhang, Jian Xie, Dong Zhen & Xin-bing Zhao

  2. Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials and Applications for Batteries of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, 310027, China

    Jian Xie, Dong Zhen & Xin-bing Zhao

  3. Hangzhou Branch, Zhejiang Zotye Automobile Corporation Limited, Hangzhou, 310018, China

    Yuan Jin & Kang-yan Wan

  4. Shanghai Han Xing Science and Technology Co., Ltd., Shanghai, 201322, China

    Da-gao Zhuang & Wen-quan Zheng

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  1. Li-fen Guo
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  2. Shi-yun Zhang
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  4. Dong Zhen
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  5. Yuan Jin
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  9. Xin-bing Zhao
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Correspondence to Jian Xie.

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Guo, Lf., Zhang, Sy., Xie, J. et al. Controlled synthesis of nanosized Si by magnesiothermic reduction from diatomite as anode material for Li-ion batteries. Int J Miner Metall Mater 27, 515–525 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12613-019-1900-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12613-019-1900-z

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