Surface Reactivity Of Silicon Thin Film Electrodes: A Step Forward The Understanding Of The Electrode/Electrolyte Interphase Stability Using Model Electrode Systems For Lithium-ion Batteries (Energy Storage Innovations USA 2018)

Silicon represents the most promising alternative to graphite as anode in lithium-ion batteries. However, several issues limit its use in practical systems such as the instability of the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI). The work herein presented focuses on the understanding of the inherent non-passivating behavior of silicon thin film electrodes in organic electrolytes, which results in large irreversible capacity loss and gradual electrolyte consumption upon cycling. By studying the kinetic processes occurring at the electrode/electrolyte interface, we elucidate the dynamic behavior of the SEI and the fundamental role of the electrolyte decomposition products for the SEI stabilization.

Ivana Hasa is a Chemist Postdoc Fellow at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (USA) within the Energy Technology Area in the group of Dr. R. Kostecki. Her research focuses on the fundamental understanding of the solid/electrolyte interface of alloying anodes for lithium-ion battery. Formerly, she carried out a PhD in chemistry at Sapienza University of Rome (Italy) by studying advanced materials for application in sodium-ion batteries. She then moved to Germany, at the Helmholtz Institute Ulm (HIU), where she focused on material development and characterization for application in Sodium-ion batteries, Aluminum-ion batteries and Semi-Solid Lithium Flow Batteries.

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is a member of the national laboratory system supported by the U.S. Department of Energy through its Office of Science. It is managed by the University of California (UC) and is charged with conducting unclassified research across a wide range of scientific disciplines. Berkeley Lab was founded in 1931 by Ernest Orlando Lawrence, a UC Berkeley physicist who won the 1939 Nobel Prize in physics for his invention of the cyclotron, a circular particle accelerator that opened the door to high-energy physics.