Scalable Production of High-Performance Carbon-Coated Silicon Batteries via Surface Grown Silicon Carbide Nanofiber Networks

This project will develop and test a new material for lithium-ion batteries, creating an anode that can store more energy, charge faster, and last longer than current technology. This development is crucial to improve electric vehicles and enable more renewable energy storage. The material is a silicon particle wrapped in a network of strong silicon carbide nanowires, all coated in a thin layer of carbon. This material is designed to significantly reduce the expansion and cracking of the anode material within the battery which would be detrimental to battery performance. The production process of the material is designed to be practical, scalable, efficient, environmentally responsible, and economic in order to encourage the industrial scale adoption of this technology. The collaboration brings together the University of Toronto’s Thomson Lab expertise in microwave-driven materials processing and Stanford University’s NanoEnergy Lab expertise in battery design, fabrication, and advanced electrochemical testing. At Stanford, the material will be made into coin-cell batteries and rigorously evaluated to quantify the battery performance and improve the material design. This partnership will strengthen research capacity at both institutions by sharing specialized equipment, specific engineering experience, and modelling tools while training a young researcher in nanotechnology fabrication and battery production.

Faculty Supervisor:

Murray Thomson

Student:

Partner:

Stanford University

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Education

University:

University of Toronto

Program: