Amorphous TiO<sub>2</sub> Shells: A Vital Elastic Buffering Layer on Silicon Nanoparticles for High-Performance and Safe Lithium Storage.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 28374476.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1002/adma.201700523.
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Abstract
Smart surface coatings of silicon (Si) nanoparticles are shown to be good examples for dramatically improving the cyclability of lithium-ion batteries. Most coating materials, however, face significant challenges, including a low initial Coulombic efficiency, tedious processing, and safety assessment. In this study, a facile sol-gel strategy is demonstrated to synthesize commercial Si nanoparticles encapsulated by amorphous titanium oxide (TiO<sub>2</sub> ), with core-shell structures, which show greatly superior electrochemical performance and high-safety lithium storage. The amorphous TiO<sub>2</sub> shell (≈3 nm) shows elastic behavior during lithium discharging and charging processes, maintaining high structural integrity. Interestingly, it is found that the amorphous TiO<sub>2</sub> shells offer superior buffering properties compared to crystalline TiO<sub>2</sub> layers for unprecedented cycling stability. Moreover, accelerating rate calorimetry testing reveals that the TiO<sub>2</sub> -encapsulated Si nanoparticles are safer than conventional carbon-coated Si-based anodes.