Synthesis, Elemental Analysis, and Metallographic 

Preparation of Lithium (Li)-Silicon (Si) Alloys

by Joshua B. Ratchford, Bruce A. Poese, Cynthia A. Lundgren, Jan L. Allen,

and Jeff Wolfenstine

ARL-TR-5818 November 2011

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Army Research Laboratory

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ARL-TR-5818 November 2011

Synthesis, Elemental Analysis, and Metallographic 

Preparation of Lithium (Li)-Silicon (Si) Alloys

Joshua B. Ratchford, Bruce A. Poese, Cynthia A. Lundgren, Jan L. Allen, 

and Jeff Wolfenstine

Sensors and Electron Devices Directorate, ARL

Approved for public release; distribution unlimited. 
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Synthesis, Elemental Analysis, and Metallographic Preparation of Lithium (Li)-

Silicon (Si) Alloys

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Joshua B. Ratchford, Bruce A. Poese, Cynthia A. Lundgren, Jan L. Allen, and 

Jeff Wolfenstine

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14. ABSTRACT

We report methods used to synthesize and prepare Li12Si7 and Li22Si5 for nanoindentation testing. The alloys were made by 

heating lithium granules with silicon powder. X-ray diffraction, inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry, and optical 

microscopy confirmed that the alloys were single phase. Optical microscopy showed that the alloys were fully dense.

15. SUBJECT TERMS

Lithium, silicon, alloys, synthesis

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Jeff Wolfenstine

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Contents

List of Figures iv

List of Tables iv

Acknowledgments v

1. Introduction 1

2. Experimental 1

2.1 Synthesis..........................................................................................................................1

2.2 X-ray Diffraction Parameters..........................................................................................2

2.3 Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) ..........................................2

2.4 Metallographic Preparation of Alloys.............................................................................2

3. Results and Discussion 3

3.1 Phase Composition of Synthesized Alloys......................................................................3

3.2 Elemental Analysis..........................................................................................................4

3.3 Microstructural Analysis.................................................................................................4

4. Conclusion 5

5. References 6

Distribution List 7
iv

List of Figures

Figure 1. X-ray diffraction patterns produced from powder samples of (a) Li12Si7 and

(b) Li22Si5...................................................................................................................................3

Figure 2. Optical images of etched samples (a) Li12Si7 and (b) Li22Si5..........................................5

List of Tables

Table 1. Elemental composition of Li12Si7 and Li22Si5 determined by ICP-MS. ..........................4
v

Acknowledgments

This research was performed while Joshua B. Ratchford held a National Research Council 

Research Associateship Award at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory. We are grateful to Dr. 

Matthew Ervin for the facilities used to polish samples.
vi

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1

1. Introduction

Recently, lithium (Li)-silicon (Si) alloy anodes have been considered as attractive alternatives to 

graphite anodes in Li-ion batteries, because the specific capacities of these alloys are from four 

(1620 mAhg–1, Li12Si7) to 10 times (4200 mAhg–1, Li22Si5) greater than graphite (1–4). 

Unfortunately, these capacities diminish with cycling because substantial volume changes during

Li-ion addition/removal cause decrepitation. It has been proposed that knowledge of the elastic

properties of these alloys, like Young’s modulus, can be used to develop models that can predict 

and prevent decrepitation of Li-Si alloys (5, 6). Several groups recently predicted values of the 

elastic properties of these alloys using density functional theory (5, 7, 8). Experimental data to 

verify these values did not exist until our group’s recent publication of Young’s modulus for 

Li22Si5 that was measured using nanoindentation testing (9). We have also recently measured 

Young’s modulus for Li12Si7 using the same methods (10). We believe that the methods used for 

our work with Li12Si7 and Li22Si5 will be helpful to other researchers who wish to synthesize, 

study the microstructure, and measure the mechanical properties of Li alloys using 

nanoindentation testing. Therefore, the objective of this report is to document (1) the method 

used to synthesize Li12Si7 and Li22Si5, (2) the methods we used to determine the weight percent 

of lithium of these alloys using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and 

(3) the metallographic methods we used to prepare the surfaces of these alloys for 

microstructural analysis and nanoindentation testing. 

2. Experimental

2.1 Synthesis

All procedures used to synthesize Li12Si7 and Li22Si5 were performed in a glove box (VAC

Nexus One®) filled with argon, which contained less than 1 ppm of oxygen and 1 ppm of water. 

In order to synthesize Li12Si7, 1.490 g of lithium granules (Alfa Aesar) was mixed with 3.510 g 

of silicon powder (Alfa Aesar). In order to synthesize Li22Si5, 2.605 g of lithium granules were 

mixed with 2.395 g of silicon powder. The mixtures of the Li granules and Si powder were 

pressed into pellets using stainless steel dies. The pellets were heated inside molybdenum 

crucibles using a muffle furnace. The Li-Si phase diagram shows that Li12Si7 and Li22Si5 melt at 

690 °C (Tm = 963 K) (11). We found that samples heated to 800 °C showed improved phase 

purity as compared to those heated at 690 °C. Therefore, the samples were heated from 

20 to 800 °C over the course of 40 min and then at 800 °C for an additional 30 min. The samples 

were then heated at 450 °C for 16 h to ensure their homogeneity before it was slowly cooled to 

20 °C.
2

2.2 X-ray Diffraction Parameters

To determine the phase purity of Li12Si7 and Li22Si5, approximately 100 mg of the samples were 

removed from the center of the crucibles, ground into fine powders, and placed upon a glass 

slides for analysis by x-ray diffraction. Because these alloys are sensitive to ambient moisture, 

the samples were hermetically sealed with Kapton® film before these were immediately 

transferred from the dry box to the x-ray diffractometer (Rigaku Ultima III®). A Cu-Kα 

emission source and the Bragg-Brentano geometry was used to obtain a diffraction pattern from 

15° to 80° two-theta with a step size of 0.02o two-theta at a scan rate of 1° two-theta per minute.

2.3 Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS)

Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (PerkinElmer ELAN® ICP-MS) was used to 

confirm the weight percentage of lithium in the alloys. For Li12Si7 and Li22Si5, 100-mg powder 

samples were dissolved in solutions composed of 6 ml of 50 wt.% hydrofluoric acid (Fisher) and 

3 ml of 70 wt.% nitric acid (Fisher) for 12 h in a Teflon® container. We wish to emphasize that 

extra caution was used to prepare these samples for ICP-MS because both alloys are very 

reactive with water. The sample solutions were then diluted to 100 g with a solution composed 

of 0.1 wt.% nitric acid and 0.3 wt.% hydrofluoric acid. 7Li+detection with the spectrometer was 

standardized with solutions made by diluting a 10-μg/ml atomic absorption standard solution 

with a 0.1 wt.% nitric acid and 0.3 wt.% hydrofluoric acid solution at 10, 100, and 1000 times. 

Linear regression analysis of the 7Li+intensities measured from these standard solutions were 

used to generate the following calibration curve:

ILi = 92.4×103CLi + 4.0×103(1)

where ILi is the measured intensity of 7Li+and CLi is the concentration of lithium in solution. 

7

Li+detection with the spectrometer was linear over four orders of magnitude. The measured 

intensity of 7Li+in the sample solution was substituted into equation 1 to determine the 

concentration of lithium, CLi, in the dissolved Li12Si7 and Li22Si5 sample solutions.

2.4 Metallographic Preparation of Alloys

To prepare samples of Li12Si7 and Li22Si5 for mechanical testing, granules of the samples were 

cold mounted in epoxy (Buehler EPO-KWICK®)*. Granules were rough polished with 320-, 

400-, and 600-grit abrasive papers (Buehler BuehlerMet®II) in series. Because the alloy is water 

reactive, the papers were lubricated with mineral oil instead of water. Suspensions of alumina 

powders (Buehler) in mineral oil were used to fine polish the granules against a microfiber cloth 

(Buehler MicroCloth® PSA). Alumina powders with diameters of 1.0, 0.3, and 0.05 μm were 

used in series. The surfaces of the granules were fine polished until a mirror finish was obtained. 

The homogeneity of the fine polished surface was confirmed by examination with optical 

microscopy. To determine the grain size of the alloy, the polished surfaces were etched for 

 

*A stainless steel washer was used to hold the granules against the bottom surface of the mold as the liquid epoxy hardened.
3

several seconds with a solution that was 0.2% by mass water and 0.3% by mass hydrochloric 

acid diluted with hexane. Etching was quenched by immersing the sample into mineral oil. The 

grain size was measured from optical images of the etched surface using the linear intercept 

method (12).

3. Results and Discussion

3.1 Phase Composition of Synthesized Alloys

The x-ray diffraction patterns in figure 1a for Li12Si7 and figure 1b for Li22Si5 show that the 

alloys are polycrystalline. The amorphous background in the 15–30° range of figure 1b is an 

artifact of the Kapton tape. The position of the diffraction peaks that match those from the 

International Centre of Diffraction Data’s powder diffraction file for Li12Si7 (PDF# 00-040-

0942) and Li22Si5 (PDF# 01-073-2049) are marked with bullets. Figure 1 shows that the 

positions of the diffraction peaks from the alloys agree perfectly with those from the powder 

diffraction files. Impurity peaks are marked with crossbars in figure 1a. These correspond to the 

(311) diffraction peak of Mo4O11 (PDF# 01-089-6725) and the (111) diffraction peak of MoSi2

(PDF# 01-081-0167). These results suggest that the synthesized Li12Si7 is mainly single phase 

Li12Si7 with a small amount of second phase Mo4O11 and MoSi2 impurities. No impurity peaks 

are observed in figure 1b. These results suggest that the synthesized Li22Si5 alloy is single phase 

Li22Si5. 

Figure 1. X-ray diffraction patterns produced from powder samples of (a) Li12Si7 and (b) Li22Si5.

(a) (b)
4

3.2 Elemental Analysis

Table 1 shows the measured weight percentages of lithium in the Li12Si7 and Li22Si5 obtained 

using ICP-MS, and the expected weight percentage of lithium in these alloys from the Li-Si 

phase diagram. As table 1 shows, the measured weight percentage of lithium in the alloys agrees 

with the expected weight percentage of lithium from the Li-Si phase diagram. These results 

further confirm that the synthesized alloys are indeed single phase Li12Si7 and Li22Si5. Because 

molybdenum impurities were observed in the x-ray diffraction patterns obtained from the Li12Si7

samples, the weight percentage of molybdenum in this alloy was also measured. Table 1 shows 

that the weight percentage of molybdenum in this alloys was 1.8±0.5 wt.%. In the worst case, 

the alloy is 2.3% by mass molybdenum. From this mass composition in conjunction with the 

densities of the impurities, the Li12Si7 alloy is at most 0.4 %.vol MoSi2 or 0.5 %.vol Mo4O11—a 

negligible volume fraction to consider for a weighted average of mechanical properties for mixed 

phases of materials. From this result, we conclude that the mechanical properties measured from 

the synthesized Li12Si7 will represent the true materials properties of Li12Si7.

Table 1. Elemental composition of Li12Si7 and Li22Si5

determined by ICP-MS.

Alloy Expected Li wt.%a Li wt.% Mo wt.%

Li12Si7 29.8 28.6±1.5 1.8±0.5

Li22Si5 52.1 52.5±1.1 ‒

aOkamoto, H. Journal of Phase Equilibria and Diffusion

30, 2009, 118‒119.

3.3 Microstructural Analysis

Optical microscopy showed that the Li12Si7 and Li22Si5 microstructures were homogeneous over 

the entire polished area of the granule. Each alloy is fully dense with no porosity and no second 

phases show (figure 2). In addition, figure 2 shows that the grain structure of Li12Si7 and Li22Si5

are fairly equiaxed, with grain sizes of 4±1 and 25±3 μm, respectively.
5

Figure 2. Optical images of etched samples (a) Li12Si7 and (b) Li22Si5.

4. Conclusion

A method to synthesize and prepare the Li-Si alloys, Li12Si7 and Li22Si5, for mechanical testing 

was developed. Analysis of these alloys using x-ray diffraction and ICP-MS showed that the 

alloys were single phase Li12Si7 and Li22Si5. Optical microscopy confirmed the homogeneity of 

the microstructure of each alloy.

(a) (b)

50 μm 50 μm
6

5. References

1. Zhang, W. J. J. Power Sources 2011, 196, 13–24.

2. Tarascon, J. M.; Armand, M. Nature 2001, 414, 359–367.

3. Kasavajjula, U.; Wang, C. S.; Appleby, A. J. J. Power Sources 2007, 163, 1003–1039.

4. Arico, A. S.; Bruce, P.; Scrosati, B.; Tarascon, J. M.; Van Schalkwijk, W. Nat. Mater. 2005, 

4, 366–377.

5. Shenoy, V. B.; Johari, P.; Qi, Y. J. Power Sources 2010, 195, 6825–6830.

6. Cheng, Y. T.; Verbrugge, M. W. Electrochem. Solid State Lett. 2010, 13, A128–A131.

7. Kim, H.; Chou, C. Y.; Ekerdt, J. G.; Hwang, G. S. J. Phys. Chem. C 2011, 115, 2514–2521.

8. Chevrier, V. L.; Zwanziger, J. W.; Dahn, J. R. Can. J. Phys. 2009, 87, 625–632.

9. Ratchford, J. B.; Schuster, B. E.; Crawford, B. A.; Lundgren, C. A.; Allen, J. L.;

Wolfenstine, J. J. Power Sources 2011, 196, 7747–7749.

10. unpublished results, Ratchford, J.B. et al. 2011

11. Okamoto, H. Journal of Phase Equilibria and Diffusion 2009, 30, 118–119.

12. Barrett, C. R.; Nix, W. D.; Tetelman, A. S. The Principles of Engineering Materials;

Printice-Hall, Inc., 1973.
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