Lithiation-Induced Shuffling of Atomic Stacks

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• 作者：Anmin Nie ; Yingchun Cheng ; Yihan Zhu ; Hasti Asayesh-Ardakani ; Runzhe Tao ; Farzad Mashayek ; Yu Han ; Udo Schwingenschl枚gl ; Robert F. Klie ; Sreeram Vaddiraju ; Reza Shahbazian-Yassar
• 刊名：Nano Letters
• 出版年：2014
• 出版时间：September 10, 2014
• 年：2014
• 卷：14
• 期：9
• 页码：5301-5307
• 全文大小：594K
• ISSN：1530-6992

文摘

In rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, understanding the atomic-scale mechanism of Li-induced structural evolution occurring at the host electrode materials provides essential knowledge for design of new high performance electrodes. Here, we report a new crystalline鈥揷rystalline phase transition mechanism in single-crystal Zn鈥揝b intermetallic nanowires upon lithiation. Using in situ transmission electron microscopy, we observed that stacks of atomic planes in an intermediate hexagonal (h-)LiZnSb phase are 鈥渟huffled鈥?to accommodate the geometrical confinement stress arising from lamellar nanodomains intercalated by lithium ions. Such atomic rearrangement arises from the anisotropic lithium diffusion and is accompanied by appearance of partial dislocations. This transient structure mediates further phase transition from h-LiZnSb to cubic (c-)Li₂ZnSb, which is associated with a nearly 鈥渮ero-strain鈥?coherent interface viewed along the [001]_h/[111]_c directions. This study provides new mechanistic insights into complex electrochemically driven crystalline鈥揷rystalline phase transitions in lithium-ion battery electrodes and represents a noble example of atomic-level structural and interfacial rearrangements.

Keywords:

lithium-ion batteries; in situ STEM; atomic scale; phase transition; Zn₄Sb₃ nanowires