Axial Si-Ge Heterostructure Nanowires as Lithium-Ion Battery Anodes

Killian Stokes; Grace Flynn; Hugh Geaney; Gerard Bree; Kevin M Ryan

doi:10.1021/acs.nanolett.8b01988

Axial Si-Ge Heterostructure Nanowires as Lithium-Ion Battery Anodes

Nano Lett. 2018 Sep 12;18(9):5569-5575. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.8b01988. Epub 2018 Aug 9.

Authors

Killian Stokes¹, Grace Flynn¹, Hugh Geaney¹, Gerard Bree¹, Kevin M Ryan¹

Affiliation

¹ Bernal Institute and Department of Chemical Sciences , University of Limerick , Limerick , V94 T9PX Ireland.

PMID: 30091609
DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.8b01988

Abstract

Here, we report the application of axially heterostructured nanowires consisting of alternating segments of silicon and germanium with a tin seed as lithium-ion battery anodes. During repeated lithiation and delithiation, the heterostructures completely rearrange into a porous network of homogeneously alloyed Si_{1- x}Ge _x ligaments. The transformation was characterized through ex situ TEM, STEM, and Raman spectroscopy. Electrochemical analysis was conducted on the heterostructure nanowires with discharge capacities in excess of 1180 mAh/g for 400 cycles (C/5) and capacities of up to 613 mAh/g exhibited at a rate of 10 C.

Keywords: Si−Ge; heterostructure; lithium-ion battery; nanowires; restructuring.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't