Crystallinity-dependent capacity of a LiBC anode material in Li-ion batteries. Issue 44 (5th November 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Jia, Jianfeng; Chen, Shaorui; Yang, Qianwen; Feng, Xiang; Li, De
• Is Part Of: Physical chemistry chemical physics. Volume 20:Issue 44(2018)
• Page Start: 28176
• Page End: 28184
• Publication Date: 2018-11-05
• Subjects: Chemistry, Physical and theoretical -- Periodicals; 541.3
• DOI: 10.1039/c8cp05561k
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1463-9076

Abstract

Abstract : The crystal structure of LiBC evolves dramatically during the charge and discharge processes, which depend on LiBC crystallinity. Abstract : LiBC is a layered boron carbide material that was first studied as a superconducting material. Theoretical study showed that LiBC is a promising cathode material in Li-ion batteries, while our early computational and experimental studies demonstrated the feasibility of LiBC as a high-capacity anode material for Li-ion batteries. In this work, LiBC has been synthesized by a solid-state method using different carbon precursors of acetylene black and graphite, marked a-LiBC and g-LiBC, respectively, and their electrochemical properties and corresponding structure evolutions have been investigated in Li-ion batteries. As a result, a-LiBC delivers a higher specific capacity than g-LiBC, 500 mA h g −1 vs. 200 mA h g −1, after 50 cycles at a rate of 0.1C. Actually, a significant structural evolution of a-LiBC was observed by in situ XRD during the charge/discharge processes, while a nearly constant structure was detected for g-LiBC. Meanwhile, in situ Raman results revealed the evolution of vibrational beating modes at different charge/discharge states. Therefore, the specific capacity of LiBC is closely related to its crystallinity, and LiBC with amorphous carbon precursors could be adopted as a promising anode material for Li-ion batteries.