Recently, extensive studies using silicon anodes in lithium ion batteries (LiB) have shown that the Li-Si-system is an attractive alternative to the currently dominating graphite anode in view of costs and specific capacity. Currently the main obstacle of silicon is the poor charge/discharge cycling stability and capacity fading due to the large volume variation during charging/discharging. However, remarkable progress has recently been achieved by using thin films of silicon or silicon nanowires to relieve the mechanical stress ^[1]. It is indisputable that future progress in lithium silicide applications will require fundamental knowledge of the physicochemical properties of the various lithium silicide phases. Especially accurate thermodynamic quantities are crucial for the understanding as well as modelling of phase, reaction and electrochemical equilibria.

In contrast to the numerous phase diagram studies reported in the literature, only few reliable thermodynamic quantities were available. Motivated by this situation, we recently reported experimental heat capacities and entropies of the lithium silicides Li₁₇Si₄, Li_16.42Si₄, Li₁₃Si₄, Li₇Si₃ and Li₁₂Si₇ ^[2,3]. Presently, the standard molar enthalpies of formation of the lithium silicides seem to be one of the most unreliable fundamental data because available values scatter by about 10 % which is unacceptable in view of reliable thermodynamic equilibrium calculations.

This contribution is focused on the accurate experimental determination of the standard enthalpies of formation Δ_FH°(298) of the lithium silicides Li₁₇Si₄, Li₁₃Si₄, Li₇Si₃ and Li₁₂Si₇. For this purpose the hydrogenation/dehydrogenation equilibria in the system Li-Si-H were investigated at three different temperatures (450 K, 475 K, 500 K) using a Sievert’s type apparatus. The measurements based on two different sample types: (i) pure silicide and (ii) a stoichiometric mixture of lithium hydride and silicon. The calculation of the standard enthalpies of formation by using the slopes of the classical van’t Hoff plots results in uncertainties of at least 10 %. Due to this unsatisfying large error, an alternative evaluation method is demonstrated linking the hydrogen equilibrium pressures p_eq(H₂) from the sorption measurements with our precise heat capacity and entropy data of the lithium silicides. The obtained values for the standard enthalpies of formation show strongly reduced uncertainties of less than 2%. Finally, it will be shown that the phase diagram of the Li-Si-system can now be calculated (CALPHAD) with excellent quality using a complete set of experimental thermodynamic data.

[1]       M. T. McDowell, S. W. Lee, W. D. Nix, Y. Cui, Adv. Mater. 2013, 25, 4966–4985.

[2]       D. Thomas, M. Abdel-Hafiez, T. Gruber, R. Hüttl, J. Seidel, A. U. B. Wolter, B. Büchner, J. Kortus, F. Mertens, J. Chem. Thermodyn. 2013, 64, 205–225.

[3]       D. Thomas, M. Zeilinger, D. Gruner, R. Hüttl, J. Seidel, A. U. Wolter, T. F. Fässler, F. Mertens, The Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics 2015, 178–190.