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Aug 10, 2022

Amping up battery performance with black glasses grafted on micron silicon

Posted by in categories: energy, nanotechnology

Silicon is the second most abundant element on earth, making up a hefty 27.7% percent of the earth’s crust. Apart from its ability to create sandy beaches and clear glasses, silicon also holds the potential to make highly efficient metal ion batteries.

In a world where alternative energy storage devices like are gaining momentum, there is a need to harness the excellent specific energy capacity of silicon as an electrode material. The commercial application of silicon-based is often hindered due to two major reasons: 1) lack of mechanical stability arising from uncontrolled volume expansion upon lithiation, the process of combining with a , and 2) rapid energy fading caused by the formation of unstable solid-electrode interface (SEI) formation.

Over the years scientists have developed various advanced silicon-based negative electrodes or to overcome the aforementioned problems. The most prominent among them are silicon nanomaterials. However, silicon nanomaterials come with certain demerits, such as a large demand and supply gap, difficult and expensive synthesis process, and, most importantly, a threat of fast battery dry-up.

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