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Updated: Feb 16, 2026

Author Spotlight: Advancements in High-Performance Thermoelectric Thin Films Through Radio Frequency Magnetron Sputtering
Published on: May 17, 2024
Improved Battery Performance of Nanocrystalline Si Anodes Utilized by Radio Frequency (RF) Sputtered Multifunctional
In-Kyoung Ahn, Young-Joo Lee, Sekwon Na
1Advanced Functional Thin Films Department, Surface Technology Division, Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS) , Changwon, Gyeongnam 51508, Republic of Korea.
Abstract:
Despite the high theoretical specific capacity of Si, commercial Li-ion batteries (LIBs) based on Si are still not feasible because of unsatisfactory cycling stability. Herein, amorphous Si (a-Si)-coated nanocrystalline Si (nc-Si) formed by versatile radio frequency (RF) sputtering systems is proposed as a promising anode material for LIBs. Compared to uncoated nc-Si (retention of 0.6% and Coulombic efficiency (CE) of 79.7%), the a-Si-coated nc-Si (nc-Si@a-Si) anodes show greatly improved cycling retention (C50th/Cfirst) of ∼50% and a first CE of 86.6%. From the ex situ investigation with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and cracked morphology during cycling, the a-Si layer was found to be highly effective at protecting the surface of the nc-Si from the formation of solid-state electrolyte interphases (SEI) and to dissipate the mechanical stress upon de/lithiation due to the high fracture toughness.
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