Electrospun Si/Carbon Composite Nanofiber Anodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries.

TL;DR: Li et al. as mentioned in this paper proposed a combination of electrospinning and carbonization to fabricate nanofiber anodes for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, which can store more energy than nickel-metal hydride, nickel-cadmium, or lead acid batteries.

Abstract: LI, YING. Electrospun Si/Carbon Composite Nanofiber Anodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries. (Under the direction of Professor Xiangwu Zhang). The development of high-performance rechargeable lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is one of the most important challenges that the modern society faces. LIBs can store more energy than nickel-metal hydride, nickel-cadmium, or lead acid batteries. Long cycle life, high specific energy density, good thermal stability, low self-discharge rate and no memory effect also make LIBs superior to their competitors. The demand for increased energy density and power density for LIBs has led to a search for electrode materials that have higher capacities and longer cycling life than those commercially available. Electrospinning is a continuous process that can fabricate one-dimensional nanostructures with a series of distinctive properties, such as large specific surface areas and superior mechanical properties. Due to these unique properties, a combination of electrospinning and carbonization is an efficient, simple and inexpensive way to fabricate nanofiber anodes for LIBs. In this work, we focus our research on fabricating electrospun Si/C composite nanofibers to combine the advantages of carbon (long cycle life) and silicon (high storage capacity) materials and improving the electrochemical performance of Si/C composite nanofibers as anode materials for highperformance rechargeable LIBs. The processing-structure-performance relationships for Si/C nanofiber electrodes prepared from electrospun Si/polyacrylonitrile (PAN) precursors were established. To improve the homogeneity of the composite nanofiber anodes, the effect of different surfactants on the morphology and electrochemical performance of Si/C composite nanofibers made from electrospun Si/PAN precursors was investigated. One challenge of preparing high-capacity, long-cycle life electrospun Si/C nanofiber anodes is the relatively