Silicon Anode Nanostructuring Simulator

Silicon anodes promise roughly ten times the lithium storage capacity of graphite, but they swell by about 300% in volume when fully charged — enough to crack a solid particle apart within a few cycles. This simulator cycles a bulk silicon particle until it fractures, then switches to a nanostructured silicon anode whose nanowires expand into surrounding pore space instead of against each other, so the same volume change no longer breaks the material. Run the cycling test on each structure and compare their capacity-fade curves side by side.