Improvement of thermal stability and safety of lithium ion battery using SiO anode material

• Nanosized Si-rich and SiO2-rich phases are uniformly mixed in SiO material.
• A LiFePO4|SiO lithium ion battery exhibits high thermal stability at 80 °C.
• A 1.16 Ah laminated LiFePO4|SiO cell remains safe after a nail penetration test.
• Li contents in Si-rich and SiO2-rich phases are the same after a nail penetration.

The thermal stability, in terms of cycle and rate performances at 80 °C, and its safety related to lithium ion batteries composed of a LiFePO4 cathode and SiO anode are investigated. Based on an STEM-EELS analysis, the SiO powder is found to have an amorphous structure, in which nanosized Si particles (Si-rich phase) are uniformly dispersed in the SiO2 matrix (SiO2-rich phase). During the charge/discharge cycling, the cell exhibits a satisfactory cycle performance with a discharge capacity retention of 93.6% and a voltage retention of 93.9% at the 1500th cycle. Also, the charge and discharge capacity retentions at 10 C are 97.5% and 94.7%, respectively, together with a limited polarization, demonstrating its high rate performance. Furthermore, a 1.16 Ah LiFePO4/SiO laminated cell shows negligible voltage and temperature changes during the nail penetration test. The Li concentration in the active material (Si-rich phase) is found to be almost the same as that in the SiO2-rich phase after the test. This high thermal stability and safety may be due to the formed layer from the SiO2 matrix, preventing any side reaction from occurring on the Si surface and isolating the internal current path during the nail penetration.

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