Morphological Evolution of Si Nanowires upon Lithiation: A First-Principles Multiscale Model

Silicon is a promising anode material for high-capacity Li-ion batteries. Recent experiments show that lithiation of crystalline silicon nanowires leads to highly anisotropic morphologies. This has been interpreted as due to anisotropy in equilibrium interface energies, but this interpretation does not capture the dynamic, nonequilibrium nature of the lithiation process. Here, we provide a comprehensive explanation of experimentally observed morphological changes, based on first-principles multiscale simulations. We identify reaction paths and associated structural transformations for Li insertion into the Si {110} and {111} surfaces and calculate the relevant energy barriers from density functional theory methods. We then perform kinetic Monte Carlo simulations for nanowires with surfaces of different orientations, which reproduce to a remarkable degree the experimentally observed profiles and the relative reaction front rates.