ABSTRACT
Plasma spray physical vapor deposition (PS-PVD) is recognized as a high throughput processing for production of nanoparticles and nanostructured coatings, and the nanostructures can be configured to equip nanomaterials with various functionalities by a control of condensation during PS-PVD. The requirements for production of anode materials of the next-generation high-density lithium ion batteries meet well with the characteristics of PS-PVD in terms of both the structure of nanoparticles and the affordability of the processing. In fact, Si nanoparticles produced by a single-step PS-PVD using metallurgical-grade raw Si powders have exhibited a clear increase in the battery performance that is further improved by structuring the nanoparticles. Here we discuss the characteristics of these PS-PVD nanoparticles along with their effects on the battery performance as well as the fundamental formation path of the composite structure during co-condensation of high-temperature vapors in PS-PVD.
