title: Self-limiting lithiation in silicon nanowires.
abstract: The rates of charging and discharging in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are critically controlled by the kinetics of Li insertion and extraction in solid-state electrodes. Silicon is being intensively studied as a high-capacity anode material for LIBs. However, the kinetics of Li reaction and diffusion in Si remain unclear. Here we report a combined experimental and theoretical study of the lithiation kinetics in individual Si nanowires. By using in situ transmission electron microscopy, we measure the rate of growth of a surface layer of amorphous Li(x)Si in crystalline Si nanowires during the first lithiation. The results show the self-limiting lithiation, which is attributed to the retardation effect of the lithiation-induced stress. Our work provides a direct measurement of the nanoscale growth kinetics in lithiated Si, and has implications on nanostructures for achieving the high capacity and high rate in the development of high performance LIBs.
authors.affiliation: Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies-CINT, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185, USA. lxhua99@gmail.com
authors.forename: Xiao Hua
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Feifei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Sulin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jian Yu
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhu