Solid Electrolyte Interphase on Lithium-Ion Carbon Nanofiber Electrodes by Atomic and Molecular Layer Deposition

Carbon nanofibers were coated with Al2O3 by atomic layer deposition (ALD) or with an alumina-organic hybrid thin film layer by molecular layer deposition (MLD) to produce an artificial solid electrolyte interphase (SET) prior to use as a lithium-ion battery electrode. The elemental composition of the materials was investigated using energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). A coating of ten Al2O3 layers reduced the lithium lost to the SEI formation from 359 to 291 mAh/g (24%) during the first charge.. These same cells possessed 370 mAh/g of stable reversible capacity when tested at low current density (25 mA/g), similar to uncoated material. At increased currents, Al2O3 films of either ten or twenty layers lowered the capacity retention when compared with uncoated materials. When compared to the ALD material, films deposited by MLD resulted in less improvement to reversible capacity and a greater loss of reversible capacity. These results indicate the use of ALD to create a new electrode surface and mitigate the Li losses to SET formation may be a viable method of addressing the challenges associated with high-surface area electrode materials. (C) 2013 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.