Pillared particles of silicon or silicon-comprising material and a method of fabricating the same. These particles may be used to create both a composite anode structure with a polymer binder, a conductive additive and a metal foil current collector, and an electrode structure. The structure of the particles overcom...

The present invention provides a process for etching silicon to form pillarsy, especially for use as the active anode material in Li-ion batteries, the process is simple to operate on a commercial scale since it uses an etching bath containing only a small number of ingredients whose concentration needs to be contro...

An electrode for a lithium ion rechargeable battery cell is provided, the battery comprising current collectors (10, 12), a cathode layer (16), a separator and a cohesive anode mass (14), the cohesive mass comprising silicon as an active material and a polymeric binder, characterized in that the polymeric binder is ...

A method of fabricating fibers of silicon or silicon-based material comprises the steps of etching pillars on a substrate and detaching them. A battery anode can then be created by using the fibers as the active material in a composite anode electrode.

A method is described of selectively etching a silicon substrate in small local areas in order to form columns or pillars in the etched surface. The silicon substrate is held in an etching solution of hydrogen fluoride, a silver salt and an alcohol. The inclusion of the alcohol provides a greater packing density of ...

The present invention pro vides a method for treating silicon to form pillars, especially for use as the active anode material in Li-ion batteries. The process is simple to operate on a commercial scale since it uses a solution containing only a small number of ingredients whose concentration needs to be cont...

The invention provides a composition comprising a plurality of electroactive porous particle fragments comprising silicon as an electroactive material characterised in that each porous particle fragment comprises a network of pores defined and separated by silicon containing walls. The network of pores suitably comp...

A composition comprising a plurality of elongate elements and a plurality of particles is provided for use in a lithium ion battery. The elongate elements and particles each comprising a metal or semi metal selected from one or more of the group comprising silicon tin germanium and aluminium or mixtures thereof. The...

There is provided a method of forming silicon anode material for rechargeable cells. The method includes providing a metal matrix, comprising no more than 30wt% silicon, including silicon structures dispersed therein. The method further includes at least partially etching the metal matrix to at least partially isola...

The present invention provides a process for etching silicon to form pillars, which may be used as an anode material in a Li-ion battery; the process involves depositing silver onto silicon as part of the etching procedure. An etched silicon particle is shown in Figure 1. The silver present after the silicon has bee...

The present invention claims the addition of vinylene carbonate (VC) and optionally also fluoroethylene carbonate to the electrolyte of lithium ion cells having a structural silicon composite anode i.e. an anode containing fibres or particles of silicon. The additive significantly improves the cycling performance of...

The invention relates to a particulate material and processes for the preparation thereof. The particulate material consists of a plurality of composite particles. The composite particles comprise a porous particle framework comprising micropores and/or mesopores. The total pore volume of micropores and mesopores as...

The invention relates to a process for preparing composite particles, the process comprising contacting the plurality of particles in the reaction zone with a gas comprising at least 25 vol% of a silicon-containing precursor at a temperature effective to cause deposition of silicon in the pores of the porous particl...

The invention relates to a process for preparing composite particles, the process comprising the steps of: (a) providing a plurality of porous particles in a pressure reactor; (b) contacting the plurality of porous particles with a silicon precursor gas at conditions effective to cause deposition of silicon in the p...

This invention relates to continuous process for preparing composite particles by continuous introduction of a porous particle feedstock and a silicon precursor gas into a first reaction zone and continuous withdrawal of a composite particles and an effluent gas from the first reaction zone, the composite particles ...

This invention relates a process for preparing composite particles. The process comprises a first step of providing a plurality of porous particles comprising micropores and/or mesopores, wherein the total pore volume of micropores and mesopores as measured by nitrogen gas adsorption is in the range from 0.4 to 2.2 ...

This invention relates to a particulate material consisting of a plurality of composite particles comprising a porous particle framework and a plurality of nanoscale elemental silicon domains located within the pores of the porous particle framework. The porous particle framework comprises micropores and mesopores, ...

This invention relates to a process for preparing composite particles, the process comprising the deposition of a plurality of electroactive material domains in the pores of porous particles, wherein the porous particles comprise micropores and mesopores and have a D1 particle diameter of at least 0.5 µm and a D50 p...

This invention relates to a process for preparing composite particles suitable as anode active materials in metal ion batteries. Thermal decomposition of a silicon-containing precursor material is used to deposit a plurality of nanoscale silicon domains into the pore network of porous particles comprising micropores...