A silicon nanowire-reduced graphene oxide composite as a high-performance lithium ion battery anode material

Nanoscale. 2014 Mar 21;6(6):3353-60. doi: 10.1039/c3nr05093a. Epub 2014 Feb 12.

Abstract

Toward the increasing demands of portable energy storage and electric vehicle applications, silicon has been emerging as a promising anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) owing to its high specific capacity. However, serious pulverization of bulk silicon during cycling limits its cycle life. Herein, we report a novel hierarchical Si nanowire (Si NW)-reduced graphene oxide (rGO) composite fabricated using a solvothermal method followed by a chemical vapor deposition process. In the composite, the uniform-sized [111]-oriented Si NWs are well dispersed on the rGO surface and in between rGO sheets. The flexible rGO enables us to maintain the structural integrity and to provide a continuous conductive network of the electrode, which results in over 100 cycles serving as an anode in half cells at a high lithium storage capacity of 2300 mA h g(-1). Due to its [111] growth direction and the large contact area with rGO, the Si NWs in the composite show substantially enhanced reaction kinetics compared with other Si NWs or Si particles.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Electric Power Supplies*
  • Electrochemical Techniques
  • Electrodes
  • Graphite / chemistry*
  • Ions / chemistry
  • Lithium / chemistry*
  • Nanowires / chemistry*
  • Oxides / chemistry
  • Silicon / chemistry*

Substances

  • Ions
  • Oxides
  • Graphite
  • Lithium
  • Silicon