| Synthesis of Lithium Ion Battery Anode Materials from Commodity Reactants via Scalable Processes Carsten Schwandt1; 1UNIVERSITY OF NIZWA, Nizwa, Oman; PAPER: 476/Battery/Plenary (Oral) SCHEDULED: 14:00/Mon. 28 Nov. 2022/Similan 2 ABSTRACT: Secondary Li ion batteries have become an indispensable source of energy for portable appliances and they are presently establishing themselves as the energy source of choice for electric vehicles. While lithium ion batteries have matured and are produced at an industrial scale, they continue to suffer from a range of shortcomings, one of which is the comparatively low energy and power densities of the anode (negative electrode) materials presently in use. This contribution will present routes towards the preparation of new anode materials with higher capacities than the current ones. The strict overriding premise in the experimental approaches has been to exclusively employ earth-abundant commodity reactants and known-to-be-scalable processes. Two such approaches will be highlighted. One is based on the anodic decomposition of graphite in a molten LiCl/SnCl<sub>2</sub> electrolyte, resulting in the formation of Sn-filled nanocarbons [1-4]. The other is based on the cathodic deoxidation of SiO<sub>2</sub>/C in a molten CaCl<sub>2</sub> electrolyte, yielding nano-structured SiC [5,6]. The synthesis methods will be described and the products characterised in detail. Advantages and limitations of the approaches will be discussed. References: [1] C. Schwandt, A.T. Dimitrov, D.J. Fray, The preparation of nano-structured carbon materials by electrolysis of molten lithium chloride at graphite electrodes, Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry, 647, 150–158 (2010) [2] C. Schwandt, A.T. Dimitrov, D.J. Fray, High-yield synthesis of multi-walled carbon nanotubes from graphite by molten salt electrolysis, Carbon, 50, 1311–1315 (2012) [3] R. Das Gupta, C. Schwandt, D.J. Fray, Preparation of tin-filled carbon nanotubes and nanoparticles by molten salt electrolysis, Carbon, 70, 142–148 (2014) [4] R. Das Gupta, C. Schwandt, D.J. Fray, Molten salt electrolytically produced carbon/tin nanomaterial as the anode in a lithium ion battery, Metallurgical and Materials Transactions E, 4, 22–28 (2017) [5] D. Sri Maha Vishnu, J. Sure, H.-K. Kim, J.-Y. Kim, R.V. Kumar, C. Schwandt, Direct electrochemical preparation of nanostructured silicon carbide and its nitridation behavior, Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 165, D731–D742 (2018) [6] D. Sri Maha Vishnu, J. Sure, H.-K. Kim, R.V. Kumar, C. Schwandt, Solid state electrochemically synthesised β-SiC nanowires as the anode material in lithium ion batteries, Energy Storage Materials, 26, 234–241 (2020) |
