Characteristics and Electrochemical Performance of Si-Carbon Nanofibers Composite as Anode Material for Binder-Free Lithium Secondary Batteries

The carbon nanofibers (CNFs) and Si-CNFs composite were synthesized using a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method with an iron-copper catalyst and silicon-covered Ni foam. Acetylene as a carbon source was flowed into the quartz reactor of a tubular furnace heated to 600 degrees C. This temperature was maintained for 10 min to synthesize the CNFs. The morphologies, compositions, and crystal quality of the prepared CNFs were characterized by Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The electrochemical characteristics of the Si-CNFs composite as an anode of the Li secondary batteries were investigated using a three-electrode cell. The as-deposited Si-CNF composite on the Ni foam was directly employed as an working electrode without any binder, and lithium foil was used as the counter and reference electrode. A glass fiber separator was used as the separator membrane. Two kinds of electrolytes were employed; 1) 1 M LiPF6 was dissolved in a mixture of EC (ethylene carbonate): PC (propylene carbonate): EMC (Ethyl methyl carbonate) in a 1:1:1 volume ratio and 2) 1 M LiC104 was dissolved in a mixture of propylene carbonate (PC): ethylene carbonate (EC) in a 1:1 volume ratio. The galvanostatic charge discharge cycling and cyclic voltammetry measurements were carried out at room temperature by using a battery tester. The resulting Si-CNFs composite achieved the large discharge capacity of 613 mAh/g and much improved cycle-ability with the retention rate of 87% after 20 cycles.