Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES

Upscaling sub-nano-sized silicon particles

Nature Energy volume 6, pages 1092–1093 (2021)Cite this article

Subjects

Battery development needs both scientific and engineering breakthroughs. Starting from an atomic understanding of particle growth mechanisms, a remarkable upscaling of a sub-nanometer-sized silicon-based negative electrode — from coin-sized cells to battery packs of over 100 kWh — is now presented.

Graphite has been the dominant negative electrode material since the commercialization of the first rechargeable Li-ion battery. Nevertheless, high-energy demand in applications calls for alternative electrodes such as silicon because silicon promises a 10-fold increase in the theoretical specific capacity compared to graphite. Moreover, silicon’s high natural abundance also makes it an attractive choice. However, the extreme volume change of ~300% during the lithiation and delithiation — related to the reversible reaction of Si to Li15Si4 — leads to crystallite disruption and, finally, to electrode structure degradation. The solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) therefore becomes unstable, which prompts the liquid electrolyte to continuously decompose1,2. These issues make silicon a difficult material to apply as an efficient negative electrode.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Unhindered growth of silicon and the growth inhibition by ethylene leading to sub-nano-silicon crystallite formation.

References

  1. McBrayer, J. et al. Nat. Energy 6, 866–872 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Jaumann, T. et al. Energy Storage Mater. 6, 26–35 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Sung, J. et al. Nat. Energy https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-021-00945-z (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden e.V., Institute for Complex Materials, Dresden, Germany

    Lars Giebeler

Authors
  1. Lars Giebeler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lars Giebeler.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Giebeler, L. Upscaling sub-nano-sized silicon particles. Nat Energy 6, 1092–1093 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-021-00947-x

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-021-00947-x

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing