Strong stress-composition coupling in lithium alloy nanoparticles.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 31366943.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-019-11361-z and PMC identifier 6668403.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
The stress inevitably imposed during electrochemical reactions is expected to fundamentally affect the electrochemistry, phase behavior and morphology of electrodes in service. Here, we show a strong stress-composition coupling in lithium binary alloys during the lithiation of tin-tin oxide core-shell nanoparticles. Using in situ graphene liquid cell electron microscopy imaging, we visualise the generation of a non-uniform composition field in the nanoparticles during lithiation. Stress models based on density functional theory calculations show that the composition gradient is proportional to the applied stress. Based on this coupling, we demonstrate that we can directionally control the lithium distribution by applying different stresses to lithium alloy materials. Our results provide insights into stress-lithium electrochemistry coupling at the nanoscale and suggest potential applications of lithium alloy nanoparticles.