Lithiation of silica through partial reduction

We demonstrate the reversible lithiation of SiO2 up to 2/3 Li per Si, and propose a mechanism for it based on molecular dynamics and density functional theory simulations. Our calculations show that neither interstitial Li (no reduction), nor the formation of Li2O clusters and Si–Si bonds (full reduction) are energetically favorable. Rather, two Li effectively break a Si–O bond and become stabilized by oxygen, thus partially reducing the SiO2 anode: this leads to increased anode capacity when the reduction occurs at the Si/SiO2 interface. The resulting LixSiO2 (x<2/3) compounds have band-gaps in the range of 2.0–3.4 eV.