Blade-Type Reaction Front in Micrometer-Sized Germanium Particles during Lithiation

Xinwei Zhou; Tianyi Li; Yi Cui; Melissa L Meyerson; Jason A Weeks; C Buddie Mullins; Yang Jin; Hosop Shin; Yuzi Liu; Likun Zhu

doi:10.1021/acsami.0c13966

Blade-Type Reaction Front in Micrometer-Sized Germanium Particles during Lithiation

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2020 Oct 21;12(42):47574-47579. doi: 10.1021/acsami.0c13966. Epub 2020 Oct 8.

Authors

Xinwei Zhou^{1

2}, Tianyi Li¹, Yi Cui¹, Melissa L Meyerson³, Jason A Weeks³, C Buddie Mullins³, Yang Jin⁴, Hosop Shin¹, Yuzi Liu², Likun Zhu¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Indiana 46202, United States.
² Center for Nanoscale Materials, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Argonne, Illinois 60439, United States.
³ Departments of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States.
⁴ Department of Electrical Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, P. R. China.

PMID: 32985874
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.0c13966

Abstract

To investigate the lithium transport mechanism in micrometer-sized germanium (Ge) particles, in situ focused ion beam-scanning electron microscopy was used to monitor the structural evolution of individual Ge particles during lithiation. Our results show that there are two types of reaction fronts during lithiation, representing the differences of reactions on the surface and in bulk. The cross-sectional SEM images and transmission electron microscopy characterizations show that the interface between amorphous Li_xGe and Ge has a wedge shape because of the higher Li transport rate on the surface of the particle. The blade-type reaction front is formed at the interface of the amorphous Li_xGe and crystalline Ge and is attributed to the large strain at the interface.

Keywords: blade-type; germanium; in situ focused ion beam-scanning electron microscopy; lithiation; lithium ion battery; reaction front.