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October 18, 2016: Patent for anodes comprising graphite, germanium, boron, silicon, and/or tungsten for lithium-ion devices granted to StoreDot
Typical Li-ion battery anodes contain mostly graphite.
Silicon or germanium, as anode-alloying components, generally exhibit higher lithium absorption capacities in comparison to anodes containing only graphite.
Such silicon-containing or germanium-containing electrodes, however, usually exhibit poor life cycle and poor coulombic efficiency due to the mechanical expansion of silicon and germanium upon alloying with lithium, and upon lithium extraction from the alloy, which reduce the silicon alloy volume. This mechanical instability results in the material breaking into fragments.
The present disclosure relates to electrode-active materials used in lithium-ion devices, such as rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. This disclosure covers an anode material for a lithium-ion device that includes an active material including graphite, germanium, boron, silicon, and/or tungsten.
