P-Doped SiOx/Si/SiOx Sandwich Anode for Li-Ion Batteries to Achieve High Initial Coulombic Efficiency and Low Capacity Decay

Initial reversibility and excellent capacity retention are the key requirements for the success of high-capacity electrode materials in high-performance Li-ion batteries and pose a number of challenges to development. Silicon has been regarded as a promising anode material because of its outstanding theoretical capacity. However, it suffers from colossal volume change and continuous formation of unstable solid electrolyte interphases during lithiation/delithiation processes, which eventually result in low initial Coulombic efficiency (ICE) and severe capacity decay. To circumvent these challenges, a new sandwich Si anode (SiOx/Si/SiOx) free from prelithiation is designed and fabricated using a combination of P-doping and SiOx layers. This new anode exhibits high conductivity and specific capacity compared to other Si thin-film electrodes. Cells with SiOx/Si/SiOx anodes deliver the highest presently known ICE value among Si thin-film anodes of 90.4% with a charge capacity of 3534 mA h g(-1). In addition, the SiOx layer has sufficient mechanical stability to accommodate the large volume change of the intervening Si layer during charge-discharge cycling, exhibiting high potential for practical applications of Si thin-film anodes.