Sputtered Silicon-Coated Graphite Electrodes as High Cycling Stability and Improved Kinetics Anodes for Lithium Ion Batteries.

Amorphous Si thin films with different thicknesses were deposited on synthetic graphite electrodes by using a simple and scalable one-step physical vapor deposition (PVD) method. The specific capacities and rate capabilities of the produced electrodes were investigated. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, profilometry, cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic techniques, and in situ Raman spectroscopy were used to investigate their physicochemical and electrochemical properties.