Supersonic cold-sprayed Si composite alloy as anode for Li-ion batteries

The increasing demand for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) continuously stimulates the research community to seek advanced fabrication of anodes with improved performance and lifespan. Silicon (Si), as one of the most promising anode materials, has been the main focus of both research and industry. In this paper, we report a type of Si alloy anode for LIBs manufactured by the supersonic cold spray technique. The microscopic analysis revealed the uniform morphologies of the anodes, indicating that Si and other metal particles were well bonded. Specific discharge capacities were obtained for the cold-sprayed anodes by half-coin cell tests, with the highest value of 1047 mAh g(-1) at a current rate of 0.05 C. Most importantly, the energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy results demonstrated none oxidation of the powders after the cold spray process. The results strongly indicate that the concept of using cold spray technique to fabricate Si alloy anode is feasible. Compared to the conventional methods of fabricating Si anodes, the cold spray approach is simple, convenient, and scalable. This method may revolutionarily change the LIBs industries.