The comparison of different deposition methods to prepare thin film of silicon-based anodes and their performances in Li-ion batteries

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have always been known as promising energy sources for all kinds of electronic devices. These batteries are composed of graphitic anodes due to their high abundance, high conductivity, and low cost. But the low capacity of these anodes is considered the basic challenge that prevents their wide usage. Therefore, although silicon is known as a great promising anode material rather than graphite because of its high theoretical capacity, it has some challenges during the insertion-extraction of lithium ions such as extensive volume changes and formation of unstable solid electrolyte interface (SEI) which is led to active material pulverization that confines the commercial application of silicon anodes. With this viewpoint, some research has been done to decrease and/or control these challenges; so, one of the best ways is to prepare silicon thin films as anode material with different chemical and physical deposition methods (e.g.: Chemical Vapor Deposition, Physical Vapor Deposition, ...) onto different substrates (e.g.: Copper foil, Nickel foam, ...). These methods have been spread to increase the utilization of silicon materials by producing multilayer and truly repeatable coatings for LIB anodes. In this article, the merits and issues of various methods to prepare silicon thin film anodes for LIBs with a focus on the function of each one have been reviewed.

Automated summary

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are considered promising energy sources for electronic devices, but the low capacity of graphitic anodes has limited their widespread usage. Silicon thin films have been explored as an alternative anode material, but challenges such as volume changes and unstable solid electrolyte interface (SEI) hinder their commercial application. This article reviews various methods, including chemical vapor deposition and physical vapor deposition, for preparing silicon thin films as LIB anodes and discusses their advantages and issues.