Researcher Jake discusses his work with Next-Generation Lithium-Ion Batteries.

PhD student Jake Entwistle's new paper 'Insights into the Electrochemical Reduction Products and Processes in Silica Anodes for Next‐Generation Lithium‐Ion Batteries' has been published.
Read the paper doi.org/10.100...
The use of silica as a lithium‐ion battery anode material requires a pretreatment step to induce electrochemical activity. The partially reversible electrochemical reduction reaction between silica and lithium has been postulated to produce silicon, which can subsequently reversibly react with lithium, providing stable capacities higher than graphite materials. Up to now, the electrochemical reduction pathway and the nature of the products were unknown, thereby hampering the design, optimization, and wider uptake of silica‐based anodes. Here, the electrochemical reduction pathway is uncovered and, for the first time, elemental silicon is identified as a reduction product.