New Insight on Sn-Doped Carbon Black as an “Active" Conductive Additive for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Abstract

Carbon black is commonly used as a conductive additive for lithium-ion battery (LIB) electrodes because of its high electrical conductivity and cost-effectiveness. While the traditional conductive additives primarily serve the role of ensuring conductivity, our research inherent Sn nanoparticles, which has widely reported to form alloy reaction with lithium, in a conductive carbon matrix (Sn@C), to enhance the lithium storage capacity. This approach combines an active material to a conductive additive and first reported Sn@C as an “active” conductive additive for LIBs. Sn@C is synthesized via plasma engineering, resulting in a material where Sn nanoparticles are uniformly dispersed within a carbon matrix. When Sn@C-500, an Sn@C annealed at 500 °C, is used as an “active” conductive additive in an LIB half-cell with graphite anode, approximately 10% higher reversible capacity is achieved compared to that of a commercial conductive additive (Super P). Furthermore, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements reveal that Sn@C-500 exhibits a lower internal resistance than Super P, confirming its effective role in ensuring the internal conductivity of the electrode. This study presents a novel approach to open up new possibilities for applying Sn-doped carbon as an active material and conductive additive to improve the performance of graphite anodes in LIBs.

Keywords: Sn-C composite, conductive additive, Lithium-ion battery, plasma engineering, Graphite anode