Samsung's battery uses a graphene and silicon anode combination to increase energy density

 

    Samsung Institute of Technology (SAIT) recently successfully developed a new solution to increase the capacity of lithium batteries, using a combination of graphene and silicon anodes. It is expected that the solution will be officially commercialized in the near future.

    The SAIT team coated a layer of graphene directly on the surface of the silicon anode material and used a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process to avoid the formation of silicon carbide, which mainly uses carbon dioxide as an oxidant.

    The researchers said that because graphene has good conductivity and mechanical properties, it can allow silicon nanoparticles to slide left and right and prevent them from diffusing in the gaps between electrodes. Silicon nanoparticles coated with graphene increase battery capacity while maintaining good performance.

    Once paired with the lithium battery cathode currently on sale, the silicon anode will allow the lithium battery cell to maintain an energy density that is 1.5 to 1.8 times that of a regular lithium battery after 200 charge and discharge cycles.

    In addition to the improvement in energy density, since the capacity change of the battery anode is less than 10% of the entire battery cell, there are no problems with the safety of the battery using the new solution.

    In addition, the SAIT team also emphasized that the most critical thing in the whole process is to avoid the formation of silicon carbide. Silicon carbide is a poor electrical insulator and is not active in reacting with lithium ions. Once it is formed, it will hinder the diffusion of lithium ions into the silicon phase. After a series of experiments, the SAIT team found that carbon dioxide as an oxidant can reduce the reaction temperature while avoiding the formation of silicon carbide.

    SAIT said that although the above solution is still a scientific research project and it will take some time to apply it to real life, if electric vehicles adopt this technology in the future, their range will be greatly improved.