Effect of Solvent Vapor Annealing on Diblock Copolymer-Templated Mesoporous Si/Ge/C Thin Films: Implications for Li-Ion Batteries

Christian L. Weindl, Christian E. Fajman, Michael A. Giebel, Kerstin S. Wienhold, Shanshan Yin, Ting Tian, Christina Geiger, Lucas P. Kreuzer, Matthias Schwartzkopf, Stephan V. Roth, Thomas F. Fässler, Peter Müller-Buschbaum

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

Although amphiphilic diblock copolymer templating of inorganic materials such as TiO2is already well investigated, sol-gel synthesis routines for porous silicon and germanium are relatively rare. Therefore, especially in the field of Li-ion batteries, novel synthesis routines with the possibility to tune the silicon and germanium ratio and the morphology in the nanometer regime are of high interest. Here, we demonstrate a synthesis method that allows a change of morphology and elemental composition with minimal effort. We evidence a morphological transformation in the nanometer regime with real space (scanning electron microscopy) and complementary reciprocal space analysis methods (grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering). Although energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) reveals a considerable amount of oxygen in the thin film, crystalline Ge in the bulk is detected with powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) and Raman spectroscopy. Due to the system's simplicity, chemical mass production options such as roll-to-roll or slot-die printing can also be considered high-yield methods compared to standard synthesis routines.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)7278-7287
Number of pages10
JournalACS Applied Nano Materials
Volume5
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - 27 May 2022

Keywords

  • GISAXS
  • diblock copolymer
  • germanium
  • polystyrene -b-poly(ethylene oxide)
  • silicon
  • sol-gel
  • solvent vapor annealing

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Effect of Solvent Vapor Annealing on Diblock Copolymer-Templated Mesoporous Si/Ge/C Thin Films: Implications for Li-Ion Batteries'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this