Multidimensional Conducting Agents for a High-Energy-Density Anode with SiO for Lithium-Ion Batteries

SiO has a high theoretical capacity as a promising anode material candidate for high-energy-density Li-ion batteries. However, its practical application is still not widely used because of the large volume change that occurs during cycling. In this report, an active material containing a mixture of SiO and graphite was used to improve the insufficient energy density of the conventional anode with the support of multidimensional conducting agents. To relieve the isolation of the active materials from volume changes of SiO/graphite electrode, two types of conducting agents, namely, 1-dimensional VGCF and 0-dimensional Super-P, were introduced. The combination of VGCF and Super-P conducting agents efficiently maintained electrical pathways among particles in the electrode during cycling. We found that the electrochemical performances of cycleability and rate capability were greatly improved by employing the conducting agent combinations of VGCF and Super-P compared with the electrode using only single VGCF or single Super-P. We investigated the detailed failure mechanisms by using systematic electrochemical analyses.