On the Mechanism of the Electrochemical Reaction of Tin Phosphide with Lithium

With a view to the possible application of tin phosphide as the negative electrode in advanced lithium-ion battery test cells, and magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance and Mössbauer spectroscopy techniques were used to reveal the mechanism of the electrochemical reactions in lithium test cells. The formation of and Sn through a conversion reaction was observed. This process was followed by the successive formation of intermetallics up to stoichiometry. Reversibility was restricted to the formation of lithium–tin intermetallics thus limiting the maximum allowed reversible capacity.