Tackling Reversible Conversion Reaction Mechanism for Lithium Based Battery

The demand for next generation of lithium based batteries with higher capacity and rate as well as increased cycle and calendar life requires new lithium storage and transfer mechanisms beyond what current lithium ion battery technique could provide. In lithium based battery, the lithium ions are stored in electrode materials either by physically intercalating (e.g. LiCoC2) or chemically alloying (e.g. LixSi). In the past decade, the conversion reaction of 3d metal oxide nanostructures which involves the formation and decomposition of lithium compounds in nanoscale present an array of advantages [1]. Despite a large number of synthesis and performance studies, the underlying mechanisms involving structural and phase changes during the lithiation/delithiation processes of these nanostructures has little been tackled.