Synthesis of nanographene-Si composite material using gas-liquid interface plasma

Lithium-ion batteries use graphene as the anode material. To achieve the higher capacity, composite anode materials consisting of graphene and Si have been investigated. In this study, nanographene and Si particle composite materials were synthesized using a gas-liquid interface plasma synthesis process which can be performed under atmospheric pressure.

In the experiment, the liquid phase was a mixture of ethanol and Si particles, and the gas phase was purged with Ar gas. The upper electrode made of copper (Cu) was set in the gas phase and the lower electrode was immersed in the liquid phase, and high voltage was applied to the electrodes to generate plasma to synthesize the composite material. The effects of the amount of Si particles on the amount of nanographene synthesized and its crystallinity were investigated from SEM, Raman spectroscopy, and mass measurement of synthesized composite materials. From the results, the amount of Si particles did not affect the amount of synthesized nanographene and its crystallinity. The ratio of Si particles to nanographene can be controlled by using a gas-liquid interface plasma synthesis process, while maintaining the quality of nanographene.