Herein we investigated the effect of the conductive agent on the electrochemical performance of the SiOx anode. SiOx anodes have a relatively low volume expansion (~160%) compared to Pure-silicon, but have a problem in that they have a poor electrical conductivity characteristic. In this study, physical and electrochemical measurements were performed using two 0-dimensional amorphous carbon conductive agents with different crystallinity and surface area. The crystal structure of the conductive agents and the local graphitization degree were analyzed through XRD and Raman, and the surface area of the particles was observed through BET. In addition, the electrical performance according to the graphitization degree of the conductive agents was confirmed through a 4-point probe. As a result of the electrochemical cycle and rate performance, it was confirmed that the performance of SiOx using a conductive agent having a low graphitization degree and a high surface area was improved. The results in this study suggest that the graphitization degree and surface area of the amorphous carbon conductive agent may play an important role in the SiOx electrode.

This work investigated the effects of different conductive agents on the electrochemical properties of anodes. SiOx possesses high theoretical capacity and shows excellent cycle performance; however, the low initial coulombic efficiency and poor electrical conductivity limit its applications in real batteries. In this study, electrodes were fabricated using two different conductive agents, and the resulting physical and electrochemical properties were analyzed. SEM observations confirmed the formation of a CNT conductive network throughout the electrodes, while the electrical conductivity contributed to the electrode was confirmed by impedance measurements. Thus, the electrode fabricated with the CNT conductive agent showed greater capacity and superior cycle performance than did the electrode fabricated using the DB conductive agent.

We fabricated 1-D and 2-D diffraction gratings of SiOx anti-reflection (AR) film grown on a quartz substrate and integrated them into a c-Si photovoltaic (PV) submodule. The light-trapping effect of the resulting submodules was studied in terms of the oblique optical incident angle, θ_i. As the θ_i increased, solar conversion efficiency, η, was improved as expected by the increased optical transmission caused by the grating. For θ_i≤30°, the relative solar conversion efficiency, Δη, of a 1-D SiOx (t=300 nm) grating, compared to that of a flat SiOx AR-coated integrated PV submodule, was improved very little, with a small variation of within 2%, but increased markedly for θ_i≥40°. We observed a change of Δη as large as 10.7% and 9.5% for the SiOx grating of period t=800 nm and 1200 nm, respectively. For a 2-D SiOx (t=300 nm) grating integrated PV submodule, however, the optical trapping behavior was similar in terms of θ_i but its variation was small, within ±1.0%.

Effects of SiOx or C shells on electrochemical properties of Si nanoparticles were investigated. SiOx shells with thickness of 10~15 nm were formed on homogeneously crystalline Si nanoparticles. Incase of Si-C nanoparticles, there were 30~40 layers of C with a number of defects. Li-ion batteries were fabricated with the above-mentioned nanoparticles, and their electrochemical properties were measured. Pristine Si shows a high IRC (initial reversible capacity) of 2,517 mAh/g and ICE (initial columbic efficiency) of 87%, but low capacity retention of 22%, respectively. SiOx shells decreased IRC (1,534 mAh/g) and ICE (54%), while the retention increased up to 65%, which can be explained by irreversible phases such as LiO2 and Li2SiO3. C shells exhibited no differences in IRC and ICE compared to the pristine Si but an enhanced retention of 54%, which might be from proper defect structures.