Lithium-silicon batteries also include cell configurations where silicon is in compounds that may, at low voltage, store lithium by a displacement reaction, including silicon oxycarbide, silicon monoxide or silicon nitride. The first laboratory experiments with lithium-silicon materials took place in the early to mid 1970s.
Lithium–silicon batteries are lithium-ion batteries that employ a silicon -based anode, and lithium ions as the charge carriers. Silicon based materials, generally, have a much larger specific capacity, for example, 3600 mAh/g for pristine silicon.
Compared to graphite, silicon stores up to 10 times more energy, so using silicon instead of graphite for anodes—the part that releases electrons during discharge—can significantly improve a battery’s energy density. However, the material swells during repeated charging, with the resulting cracks radically reducing battery life.
"Using Mixed Salt Electrolytes to Stabilize Silicon Anodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries via in Situ Formation of Li–M–Si Ternaries (M = Mg, Zn, Al, Ca)". ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. 11 (33): 29780–29790. doi: 10.1021/acsami.9b07270. PMID 31318201.
A company working with Tesla’s main US battery supplier has silicon-based tech that could soon give electric cars 500-mile ranges and charge refills in just 10 minutes.
Since charged silicon is a lithium silicide, its salt-like structure is built from a combination of silicon (-4) Zintl anions and lithium cations.