Study on lithiation/delithiation properties of Si-TiN composited nanoparticles as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries

Si-TiN composited nanoparticles were prepared by hydrogen plasma reaction. The morphology and crystal structure of the nanoparticles were investigated by TEM and XRD. The nanoparticles consists of Si and TiN as well as partial Cu0.1Si1.9Ti. During lithium insertion into the alloy electrodes, Si acts as active centre, while the TiN and Cu0.1Si1.9Ti in the material plays the role of matrix as an inertia phase, which can buffer silicon volume expansion and raise electric conductivity among silicon particles. A high lithium storage capacity of 737 mAh center dot g(-1) was observed for the composite nanoparticles, and specific capacity is 542 mAh center dot g(-1) at the 20th cycle. The cycle stability of the potential in the range of 0.05 similar to 0.80 V shows the best.