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  • Stabilization of Sn Anode t...
    Wang, Guanzhi; Aubin, Megan; Mehta, Abhishek; Tian, Huajun; Chang, Jinfa; Kushima, Akihiro; Sohn, Yongho; Yang, Yang

    Advanced materials (Weinheim), 10/2020, Volume: 32, Issue: 42
    Journal Article

    The metallic tin (Sn) anode is a promising candidate for next‐generation lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs) due to its high theoretical capacity and electrical conductivity. However, Sn suffers from severe mechanical degradation caused by large volume changes during lithiation/delithiation, which leads to a rapid capacity decay for LIBs application. Herein, a Cu–Sn (e.g., Cu3Sn) intermetallic coating layer (ICL) is rationally designed to stabilize Sn through a structural reconstruction mechanism. The low activity of the Cu–Sn ICL against lithiation/delithiation enables the gradual separation of the metallic Cu phase from the Cu–Sn ICL, which provides a regulatable and appropriate distribution of Cu to buffer volume change of Sn anode. Concurrently, the homogeneous distribution of the separated Sn together with Cu promotes uniform lithiation/delithiation, mitigating the internal stress. In addition, the residual rigid Cu–Sn intermetallic shows terrific mechanical integrity that resists the plastic deformation during the lithiation/delithiation. As a result, the Sn anode enhanced by the Cu–Sn ICL shows a significant improvement in cycling stability with a dramatically reduced capacity decay rate of 0.03% per cycle for 1000 cycles. The structural reconstruction mechanism in this work shines a light on new materials and structural design that can stabilize high‐performance and high‐volume‐change electrodes for rechargeable batteries and beyond. A rigid Cu–Sn intermetallic coating layer (ICL) is designed to restrict the volume change of a Sn anode through a structural reconstruction mechanism. A gradual separation of the metallic Cu phase from the Cu–Sn ICL provides a regulated distribution of Cu to buffer the volume change and suppress the mechanical degradation of the Sn anode.