Anode properties of silicon-rich amorphous silicon suboxide films in all-solid-state lithium batteries

•a-SiOx films exhibit excellent anode properties in a solid electrolyte.•a-SiO0.4 film shows exceptionally large reversible capacity over 2800 mAh g−1.•a-SiO0.4 film shows low capacity fading rate of 0.06% during the first 100 cycles.•a-SiO0.4 film shows very high rate capability comparable to that of pure a-Si.

This paper reports the effects of introducing oxygen into amorphous silicon films on their anode properties in all-solid-state lithium batteries. Although poor cycling performance is a critical issue in silicon anodes, it has been effectively improved by introducing even a small amount of oxygen, that is, even in Si-rich amorphous silicon suboxide (a-SiOx) films. Because of the small amount of oxygen in the films, high cycling performance has been achieved without lowering the capacity and power density: an a-Si film delivers discharge capacity of 2500 mAh g−1 under high discharge current density of 10 mA cm−2 (35 C). These results demonstrate that a-SiOx is a promising candidate for high-capacity anode materials in solid-state batteries.

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