In Situ Lithiation–Delithiation of Mechanically Robust Cu–Si Core–Shell Nanolattices in a Scanning Electron Microscope
Abstract
Nanoarchitected Cu–Si core–shell lattices were fabricated via two-photon lithography and tested as mechanically robust Li-ion battery electrodes which accommodate ∼250% Si volume expansion during lithiation. The superior mechanical performance of the nanolattice electrodes is directly observed using an in situ scanning electron microscope, which allows volume expansion and morphological changes to be imaged at multiple length scales, from single lattice beam to the architecture level, during electrochemical testing. Finite element modeling of lithiation-induced volume expansion in a core–shell structure reveals that geometry and plasticity mechanisms play a critical role in preventing damage in the nanolattice electrodes. The two-photon lithography-based fabrication method combined with computational modeling and in situ characterization capabilities would potentially enable the rational design and fast discovery of mechanically robust and kinetically agile electrode materials that independently optimize geometry, feature size, porosity, surface area, and chemical composition, as well as other functional devices in which mechanical and transport phenomena are important.
Additional Information
© 2016 American Chemical Society. Received: July 8, 2016; Accepted: August 5, 2016; Publication Date (Web): August 9, 2016. X.X. thanks the CI2 Grant and the EAS Discovery Grant at Caltech. X.W.G. thanks the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship for financial support during her Ph.D. studies at Caltech. Thanks to Dr. Betar Gallant, Dylan Tozier, and Dr. Heng Yang for helpful discussion; to Alex Lozano for help with testing the initial experimental setup; and to Dr. Lucas Meza for computer design of octet lattice structures. We are grateful to the Kavli Nanoscience Institute staff, especially Melissa Melendes and Dr. Matthew Hunt for cleanroom equipment help and Carol Garland for TEM assistance. The authors declare no competing financial interest.Attached Files
Supplemental Material - nz6b00256_si_001.pdf
Supplemental Material - nz6b00256_si_002.avi
Supplemental Material - nz6b00256_si_003.avi
Supplemental Material - nz6b00256_si_004.avi
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 69618
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20160815-085245379
- Caltech Innovation Initiative (CI2)
- Caltech Division of Engineering and Applied Science
- National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship
- Created
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2016-08-15Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-11Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Caltech groups
- Kavli Nanoscience Institute