Silicon Anodes for High-Energy-Density Li-Ion Batteries - CME Seminar Series Fall 2025

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) dominate today’s energy storage technologies, powering portable electronics, electric vehicles (EVs), and stationary storage systems. However, meeting the growing demand for higher performance in EVs and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) requires significant advances in energy density, cycle life, rate capability, safety, and cost. Commercial LIBs continue to rely on graphite anodes, which offer a limited theoretical capacity of 372 mAh g⁻¹. In contrast, silicon (Si) has emerged as a highly promising anode material due to its exceptional theoretical capacity of approximately 4200 mAh g⁻¹. Despite this advantage, Si anodes face major challenges, including severe volume expansion during lithiation and delithiation, resulting in mechanical stress, electrode pulverization, unstable solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) formation, and rapid capacity fading.