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Issues impeding the commercialization of laboratory innovations for energy-dense Si-containing lithium-ion batteries

Nature Energy volume 8, pages 921–933 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

Silicon is a promising alternative to the conventional graphite anode in high-energy lithium-ion batteries owing to its high gravimetric capacity. However, intrinsic issues, such as severe volume expansion during cycling, have plagued the development of batteries that use Si anodes. While tremendous progress has been made in laboratories to tackle these issues, most Si-containing batteries in industry, in which Si anodes are made of Si suboxides or Si–C composites, can use only a very limited amount of Si. Here we review important factors that affect the practical energy density of Si-containing batteries, including electrode swelling and cut-off voltage in cell operation. We also discuss calendar life, safety and cost issues, which also have a strong influence on practical cell design. Furthermore, we propose testing protocols to evaluate the practical viability of newly developed Si anodes.

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Fig. 1: Specification of commercial Si-containing 18650 cells.
Fig. 2: Volume expansion of Si anodes and related issues.
Fig. 3: Lower cut-off voltages as Si is added to graphite anodes.
Fig. 4: Mechanism and analysis of calendar life aging of the Si anode.
Fig. 5: Safety issues derived from Si-based anodes.
Fig. 6: Cost of Si-containing cells.
Fig. 7: Testing protocol for Si-based anodes.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the BK21 Plus project in Korea (UNIST). This work was also supported by a research grant from the Gyeongsang National University in 2022. This work was also partly supported by an Institute for Information and Communications Technology Promotion (IITP) grant funded by the Korea Government (MIST) and a Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT) grant funded by the Korea Government (MOTIE, P0012748, 2023, The Competency Development Program for Industry Specialist).

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  1. Namhyung Kim

    Present address: Energy and Environment Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA, USA

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  1. Department of Energy Engineering, School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan, Republic of Korea

    Namhyung Kim, Yujin Kim & Jaephil Cho

  2. Department of Materials Engineering and Convergence Technology, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Republic of Korea

    Jaekyung Sung

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Kim, N., Kim, Y., Sung, J. et al. Issues impeding the commercialization of laboratory innovations for energy-dense Si-containing lithium-ion batteries. Nat Energy 8, 921–933 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-023-01333-5

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