A New Design for a Combinatorial Electrochemical Cell Plate and the Inherent Irreversible Capacity of Lithiated Silicon

A new design for a 64-electrode cell plate for combinatorial electrochemical studies of electrodes for Li-ion cells is described. This plate, made using circuit board technology, has advantages over previously used plates made by sputtering electrode pads onto glass. It eliminates spurious capacity from the sputtered lead pattern exposed to electrolyte, it can be easily and economically produced in quantity, and it is more robust. This plate design was tested using a sputtered silicon wedge. With these improved plates, the irreversible capacity if Li(x)Si was measured to be less than 70 mAh/g or less than 2% of the reversible capacity. (C) 2011 The Electrochemical Society. [DOI: 10.1149/1.3552918] All rights reserved.