Effect of Graphene on the Performance of Silicon-Carbon Composite Anode Materials for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Chengyuan Ni; Chengdong Xia; Wenping Liu; Wei Xu; Zhiqiang Shan; Xiaoxu Lei; Haiqing Qin; Zhendong Tao

doi:10.3390/ma17030754

Effect of Graphene on the Performance of Silicon-Carbon Composite Anode Materials for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Materials (Basel). 2024 Feb 4;17(3):754. doi: 10.3390/ma17030754.

Authors

Chengyuan Ni¹, Chengdong Xia¹, Wenping Liu^{2

3}, Wei Xu¹, Zhiqiang Shan⁴, Xiaoxu Lei², Haiqing Qin², Zhendong Tao¹

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Air-Driven Equipment Technology of Zhejiang Province, Quzhou University, Quzhou 324000, China.
² Guangxi Key Laboratory of Superhard Material, National Engineering Research Center for Special Mineral Material, Guangxi Technology Innovation Center for Special Mineral Material, China Nonferrous Metal (Guilin) Geology and Mining Co., Ltd., Guilin 541004, China.
³ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Information Materials, Guilin University of Electronic Technology, Guilin 541004, China.
⁴ School of Environmental and Food Engineering, Liuzhou Vocational & Technical College, Liuzhou 545000, China.

Abstract

(Si/graphite)@C and (Si/graphite/graphene)@C were synthesized by coating asphalt-cracked carbon on the surface of a Si-based precursor by spray drying, followed by heat treatment at 1000 °C under vacuum for 2h. The impact of graphene on the performance of silicon-carbon composite-based anode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) was investigated. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) images of (Si/graphite/graphene)@C showed that the nano-Si and graphene particles were dispersed on the surface of graphite, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) curves indicated that the content of silicon in the (Si/graphite/graphene)@C was 18.91%. More bituminous cracking carbon formed on the surface of the (Si/graphite/graphene)@C due to the large specific surface area of graphene. (Si/Graphite/Graphene)@C delivered first discharge and charge capacities of 860.4 and 782.1 mAh/g, respectively, initial coulombic efficiency (ICE) of 90.9%, and capacity retention of 74.5% after 200 cycles. The addition of graphene effectively improved the cycling performance of the Si-based anode materials, which can be attributed to the reduction of electrochemical polarization due to the good structural stability and high conductivity of graphene.

Keywords: Li-ion batteries; electrochemical performance; graphene; graphite; nano-Si.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Guangxi Science and Technology Project (ZY21195037), the Scientific and Technological Plan of Guilin City (20210207-4), the Scientific and Technological Plan of Liuzhou City (2022CCC0201), the Quzhou Science and Technology Bureau (Grant No.2021K26), and the Joint Funds of the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. LZY22E010002, LZY23E010001).