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Promising material for lithium-ion batteries (could smooth the way to higher capacities)
http://www.tum.de/en/about-tum/news/press-releases/short/article/30868/[font face=Serif][font size=4]New framework from boron and silicon could smooth the way to higher capacities:[/font]
06.06.2013, Research news
[font size=5]Promising material for lithium-ion batteries[/font]
[font size=4]Laptops could work longer and electric cars could drive farther if it were possible to further increase the capacity of their lithium-ion batteries. The electrode material has a decisive influence on a battery’s capacity. So far, the negative electrode typically consists of graphite, whose layers can store lithium atoms. Scientists at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) have now developed a material made of boron and silicon that could smooth the way to systems with higher capacities.[/font]
[font size=3]Loading a lithium-ion battery produces lithium atoms that are taken up by the graphite layers of the negative electrode. However, the capacity of graphite is limited to one lithium atom per six carbon atoms. Silicon could take up to ten times more lithium. But unfortunately, it strongly expands during this process – which leads to unsolved problems in battery applications.
Looking for an alternative to pure silicon, scientists at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen have now synthesized a novel framework structure consisting of boron and silicon, which could serve as electrode material. Similar to the carbon atoms in diamond, the boron and silicon atoms in the novel lithium borosilicide (LiBSi2) are interconnected tetrahedrally. But unlike diamond they moreover form channels.
"Open structures with channels offer in principle the possibility to store and release lithium atoms," says Thomas Fässler, professor at the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, Technische Universitaet Muenchen. "This is an important requirement for the application as anode material for lithium-ion batteries."
…[/font][/font]
06.06.2013, Research news
[font size=5]Promising material for lithium-ion batteries[/font]
[font size=4]Laptops could work longer and electric cars could drive farther if it were possible to further increase the capacity of their lithium-ion batteries. The electrode material has a decisive influence on a battery’s capacity. So far, the negative electrode typically consists of graphite, whose layers can store lithium atoms. Scientists at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) have now developed a material made of boron and silicon that could smooth the way to systems with higher capacities.[/font]
[font size=3]Loading a lithium-ion battery produces lithium atoms that are taken up by the graphite layers of the negative electrode. However, the capacity of graphite is limited to one lithium atom per six carbon atoms. Silicon could take up to ten times more lithium. But unfortunately, it strongly expands during this process – which leads to unsolved problems in battery applications.
Looking for an alternative to pure silicon, scientists at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen have now synthesized a novel framework structure consisting of boron and silicon, which could serve as electrode material. Similar to the carbon atoms in diamond, the boron and silicon atoms in the novel lithium borosilicide (LiBSi2) are interconnected tetrahedrally. But unlike diamond they moreover form channels.
"Open structures with channels offer in principle the possibility to store and release lithium atoms," says Thomas Fässler, professor at the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, Technische Universitaet Muenchen. "This is an important requirement for the application as anode material for lithium-ion batteries."
…[/font][/font]
