Mullane, E,Kennedy, T,Geaney, H,Ryan, KM

2014

November

ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces

A Rapid, Solvent-Free Protocol for the Synthesis of Germanium Nanowire Lithium-Ion Anodes with a Long Cycle Life and High Rate Capability

Published

()

germanium nanowires lithium-ion battery high capacity long cycle life porous network SOLID-ELECTROLYTE INTERPHASE BATTERY ANODES SILICON NANOWIRES GE NANOWIRES NICKEL NANOCRYSTALS PERFORMANCE GROWTH CAPACITY

6

18800

18807

A rapid synthetic protocol for the formation of high-performance Ge nanowire-based Li-ion battery anodes is reported. The nanowires are formed in high density by the solvent-free liquid deposition of a Ge precursor directly onto a heated stainless steel substrate under inert conditions. The novel growth system exploits the in situ formation of discrete Cu3Ge catalyst seeds from 1 nm thermally evaporated Cu layers. As the nanowires were grown from a suitable current collector, the electrodes could be used directly without binders in lithium-ion half cells. Electrochemical testing showed remarkable capacity retention with 866 mAh/g achieved after 1900 charge/discharge cycles and a Coulombic efficiency of 99.7%. The nanowire-based anodes also showed high-rate stability with discharge capacities of 800 mAh/g when cycled at a rate of 10C.

10.1021/am5045168