Mechanical properties of Li-Sn alloys for Li-ion battery anodes: A first-principles perspective

© 2016 Author(s). Fracture and pulverization induced by large stress during charging and discharging may lead to the loss of electrical contact and capacity fading in Sn anode materials. A good understanding of mechanical properties is necessary for their optimal design under different lithiation st...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Zhang, P., Ma, Z., Jiang, W., Wang, Y., Pan, Y., Lu, Chunsheng
Format: Journal Article
Published: 2016
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/20152
Description
Summary:© 2016 Author(s). Fracture and pulverization induced by large stress during charging and discharging may lead to the loss of electrical contact and capacity fading in Sn anode materials. A good understanding of mechanical properties is necessary for their optimal design under different lithiation states. On the basis of first-principles calculations, we investigate the stress-strain relationships of Li-Sn alloys under tension. The results show that the ideal tensile strengths of Li-Sn alloys vary as a function of Li concentration, and with the increase of Li+ concentration, the lowest tensile strength decreases from 4.51 GPa (Sn) to 1.27 GPa (Li7Sn2). This implies that lithiation weakens the fracture resistance of Li-Sn alloys.