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Efficient conversion of montmorillonite-derived porous nano-silica to nano-silicon for lithium-ion battery anodes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 November 2024

Jing Du ,
Jieyang Xie ,
Shoushu Wei ,
Tao Xiong ,
Shiya He ,
Haiming Huang ,
Qingze Chen Open the ORCID record for Qingze Chen [Opens in a new window] ,
Runliang Zhu  and
Jianxi Zhu
Jing Du
Affiliation:
CAS Key Laboratory of Mineralogy and Metallogeny, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Mineral Physics and Materials, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, China CAS Center for Excellence in Deep Earth Science, Guangzhou, 510640, China University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
Jieyang Xie
Affiliation:
CAS Key Laboratory of Mineralogy and Metallogeny, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Mineral Physics and Materials, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, China CAS Center for Excellence in Deep Earth Science, Guangzhou, 510640, China University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
Shoushu Wei
Affiliation:
CAS Key Laboratory of Mineralogy and Metallogeny, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Mineral Physics and Materials, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, China CAS Center for Excellence in Deep Earth Science, Guangzhou, 510640, China University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
Tao Xiong
Affiliation:
CAS Key Laboratory of Mineralogy and Metallogeny, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Mineral Physics and Materials, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, China CAS Center for Excellence in Deep Earth Science, Guangzhou, 510640, China University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
Shiya He
Affiliation:
CAS Key Laboratory of Mineralogy and Metallogeny, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Mineral Physics and Materials, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, China CAS Center for Excellence in Deep Earth Science, Guangzhou, 510640, China University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
Haiming Huang
Affiliation:
CAS Key Laboratory of Mineralogy and Metallogeny, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Mineral Physics and Materials, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, China CAS Center for Excellence in Deep Earth Science, Guangzhou, 510640, China University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
Qingze Chen*
Affiliation:
CAS Key Laboratory of Mineralogy and Metallogeny, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Mineral Physics and Materials, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, China CAS Center for Excellence in Deep Earth Science, Guangzhou, 510640, China University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
Runliang Zhu
Affiliation:
CAS Key Laboratory of Mineralogy and Metallogeny, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Mineral Physics and Materials, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, China CAS Center for Excellence in Deep Earth Science, Guangzhou, 510640, China University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
Jianxi Zhu
Affiliation:
CAS Key Laboratory of Mineralogy and Metallogeny, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Mineral Physics and Materials, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, China CAS Center for Excellence in Deep Earth Science, Guangzhou, 510640, China University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
*
Corresponding author: Qingze Chen; Email: chenqingze@gig.ac.cn
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Abstract

Nano-silicon has been regarded as the most promising anode material for next-generation lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, the preparation of nano-silicon suffers from high cost, complex procedures, and low yield, which hinders its commercial application. In this study, porous nano-silicon with particle sizes in the range of 50–100 nm was prepared through molten salt-assisted magnesiothermic reduction using porous nano-silica derived from clay minerals as the precursor. Through combining ball milling and acid activation, the synthesised nano-silica derived from montmorillonite exhibited smaller particle sizes (below 50 nm), higher specific surface area (647 m2 g–1), and total pore volume (0.71 cm3 g–1). This unique structure greatly facilitated the conversion efficiency of silica into nano-silicon by maximising the contact area between silica and magnesium powder and optimising the diffusion kinetics of magnesium atoms. When used as anodes in LIBs, the synthesised nano-silicon materials demonstrated a high specific capacity of up to 1222 mAh g–1 and an excellent capacity retention rate of 79% after 150 cycles at a current density of 0.5 A g–1. This method provides a novel approach for the cost-effective and large-scale production of nano-silicon materials for high-performance anodes.

Keywords

nano-siliconclay mineralsmontmorillonitemagnesiothermic reductionanode
Type
Article
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , First View , pp. 1 - 11
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Mineralogical Society of the United Kingdom and Ireland.

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Footnotes

Guest Editor: Anxu Sheng

This paper is part of a thematic set on Nanominerals and mineral nanoparticles

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