Charging a lithium laptop battery usually means moving lithium ions from the battery’s positive electrode or cathode into its negative electrode or anode. Silicon has the right electrochemical affinity for lithium ions to make it a promising material for anodes. In fact, until now, it has been a bit too promising. Silicon anodes absorb too much lithium. Upon charging, the silicon anodes swell to four times their previous volume, fracturing the material. After just a few charging cycles, the anodes are finished.
Nanowires, in contrast, take the swelling in stride. The Stanford collaborators’ silicon nanowires swell when charged from 89 nanometers wide to 141 nanometers wide and simultaneously elongate, thereby releasing the strain. They show no signs of mechanical failure after more than 20 cycles.
Nor, according to Cui, do the silicon nanowires appear as susceptible as graphite to typical failure mechanisms that cause safety problems (including fires that prompted new rules from the U.S. Department of Transportation this week limiting lithium laptop batteries in checked luggage). “Potentially, silicon is going to be much safer than carbon,” says Cui, who points out that improved safety could be key to lithium’s future acceptance in vehicles. “It only takes an accident or two to destroy a technology.” He says that testing over many more cycles is under way to confirm the silicon-nanowire anode’s enhanced durability and safety.
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