title: Amorphous TiO2Shells: A Vital Elastic Buffering Layer on Silicon Nanoparticles for High-Performance and Safe Lithium Storage.
abstract: Smart surface coatings of silicon (Si) nanoparticles are shown to be good examples for dramatically improving the cyclability of lithium-ion batteries. Most coating materials, however, face significant challenges, including a low initial Coulombic efficiency, tedious processing, and safety assessment. In this study, a facile sol-gel strategy is demonstrated to synthesize commercial Si nanoparticles encapsulated by amorphous titanium oxide (TiO2), with core-shell structures, which show greatly superior electrochemical performance and high-safety lithium storage. The amorphous TiO2shell (≈3 nm) shows elastic behavior during lithium discharging and charging processes, maintaining high structural integrity. Interestingly, it is found that the amorphous TiO2shells offer superior buffering properties compared to crystalline TiO2layers for unprecedented cycling stability. Moreover, accelerating rate calorimetry testing reveals that the TiO2-encapsulated Si nanoparticles are safer than conventional carbon-coated Si-based anodes.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Jianping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Institute for Superconducting and Electronic Materials, Australian Institute of Innovative Materials, University of Wollongong, Innovation Campus, Squires Way, North Wollongong, NSW, 2500, Australia.
authors.forename: Yunxiao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Lianjun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Yuchi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Wan
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, 3800, Australia.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, 3800, Australia.
authors.forename: Biao
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, 3800, Australia.
authors.forename: Cordelia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Selomulya
authors.affiliation: Institute for Superconducting and Electronic Materials, Australian Institute of Innovative Materials, University of Wollongong, Innovation Campus, Squires Way, North Wollongong, NSW, 2500, Australia.
authors.forename: Hua Kun
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Institute for Superconducting and Electronic Materials, Australian Institute of Innovative Materials, University of Wollongong, Innovation Campus, Squires Way, North Wollongong, NSW, 2500, Australia.
authors.forename: Shi Xue
authors.initials: SX
authors.lastname: Dou
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, P. R. China.|Department of Chemical Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, 3800, Australia.
authors.forename: Dongyuan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhao
keywords: core-shell structures; lithium-ion batteries; silicon nanoparticles; sol-gel coatings; titanium oxide