On the effect of the carbonaceous substrate in the nucleation of Sn nanoparticles for Li-ion anodes: experiments and first principles calculations

THOMAS, JORGE E.; VISINTIN, ARNALDO; SMREKAR, SACHA; CALDERÓN, CECILIA A.; SMREKAR, SACHA; LEIVA, EZEQUIEL P. M.; CALDERÓN, CECILIA A.; LEIVA, EZEQUIEL P. M.; ZOLOFF MICHOFF, MARTIN E.; FARIGLIANO, LUCAS M.; BARRACO, DANIEL E.; ZOLOFF MICHOFF, MARTIN E.; FARIGLIANO, LUCAS M.; BARRACO, DANIEL E.; THOMAS, JORGE E.; VISINTIN, ARNALDO

JOURNAL OF SOLID STATE ELECTROCHEMISTRY (PRINT)

SPRINGER

Año: 2018 p. 1 - 13

1432-8488

The nucleation of Sn nanoparticles by chemical reduction was studied using three different carbonaceous substrates, to obtain Sn/C composites. When used as active materials in anodes for lithium-ion batteries, these composites displayed higher capacities than commercially used graphite, and showed a good cyclability. The differences in morphology, capacity, cyclability, and diffusion between the resulting materials are highlighted. The resulting materials were characterized by charge-discharge cycling, voltammetry, EIS, SEM, and TEM microscopy. It was found that the substrate has a determinant effect on the deposition of Sn. This effect is interpreted in terms of the relative adsorption energies of a single Sn atom obtained from DFT calculations. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]