Investigation on silicon alloying kinetics during lithiation by galvanostatic impedance spectroscopy

Abstract

The parameters characterizing lithiation processes in silicon anodes of lithium ion batteries (LIBs) are compared between mu m- and nm-sized silicon particles. Galvanostatic electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (GS-EIS) is used to investigate the silicon-lithium alloying reaction in a practical charging operation (galvanostatic lithiation). Effective kinetic parameters depending on lithiation C-rates are obtained along lithiation progress from a large body of impedance data. Nanosizing benefits of nano particles over micro-particles are confirmed such as lower polarization resistance (R-p) and thinner solid electrolyte interphase layer (SEI layer) over the whole lithiation range. Based on the kinetic information obtained from the non-stationary conditions, a lithiation strategy consisting of multiple galvanostatic steps is designed to lithiate silicon anodes in a faster way. 75% of full capacity is lithiated by a galvanostatic sequence of 4C-2C-1C-0.5C within 20 min. However, only 43% and 21% are achieved by a single-rate galvanostatic lithiation at 1 C and 0.5 C, respectively.