Physical Vapor Deposition for Enhanced Lithium Ion Battery Interface Performance

In the present paper, the important role of physical vapor deposition in designing interfaces and surfaces, and in synthesizing new materials with tailored properties for use in next-generation battery technologies is presented. Conventionally, battery materials are synthesized using methods such as solid-state, co-precipitation and hydro-thermal synthesis, depending on the morphological and property needs of the final product. During operation, battery materials are subjected to harsh operating conditions, with electrodes subjected to harsh operation conditions. To Alleviate some of these constraints, the present work uses PVD technology to design thin and thick Si films for two distinct objectives: 1. To investigate the effect of depositing Si thin films by PVD on a graphite anode to enhance the latter’s capacity, and 2. to control particle size and morphology and subsequently to control volume expansion and use the Si thick film as a high capacity anode. For the purpose, both Dc magnetron sputtering as well as highly ionized sputtering (HiPIMS) are used in order to control the properties, and morphology of the deposited anode materials.
Using HiPIMS deposition, it was shown that the produced Si-coated graphite anodes had relatively higher lithiation/de-lithiation voltage compared with pristine graphite. The optimal performance is given by Si@G-1μm material, while the capacity fading increases with thickness and he capacity retention decreases with thickness. The high ionization deposition method ensured a good homogeneity of the coating, thus protecting the graphite anode against Lithium plating during cycling. The thick Si anodes were deposited both by dc-MS and HiPIMS showed a variety of morphologies and mechanical properties. It was found that the Si anodes prepared by DCMs exhibited higher stability, while the ones prepared with HiPIMS showed enhanced electrochemical activity. Furthermore, the DCMS Si anodes showed improvement at high current densities, confirming that PVD provides sophisticated tools for electrode materials design, allowing a deeper understanding of mechanisms taking place at the interface between electrode and electrolyte or at the particle level.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Biography

Jones Alami, is Professor of plasma and surface technology, the holder of the sustainable energy chair, ENSUS, and the head of the Materials Science, Energy and Nanoengineering (MSN) Department at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) in Morocco, since December 2016. He is the co-founder and CEO of New Generation Battery Materials (NGB Materials), a company dedicated to the piloting and the production of LFP cathode materials since December 2023. Jones has a Doctorate in plasma physics (2003) and a PhD in thin film physics (2005) from the University of Linkoping in Sweden. After post-doctoral studies at Aachen University in Germany, he joined industry as a Research Manager and Innovations Manager at large coating and PVD systems manufacturers. In 2011 he founded and managed a coatings R&D company, and simultaneously occupied the position of Adjunct Professor for three years at the prestigious Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Science. Dr. Alami has more than 150 peer-reviewed publications with over 6000 citations and an H-index of 34 and is the author/co-author of over 30 patents and patent applications.