Novel materials for Li-ion batteries is one of the principle thrust areas for current research in energy storage, more so than most, considering its widespread use in portable electronic gadgets and plug-in electric and hybrid cars. One of the major limiting factors in a Li-ion battery's energy density is the low specific capacities of the active materials in the electrodes. In the search for high-performance anode materials for Li-ion batteries, many alternatives to carbonaceous materials have been studied. Both cubic and amorphous silicon can reversibly alloy with lithium and have a theoretical capacity of 3500 mAh/g, making silicon a potential high density anode material. However, a large volume expansion of 300% occurs due to changes in the structure during lithium insertion, often leading to pulverization of the silicon. To this end, a class of silicon based cage compounds called clathrates are studied for electrochemical reactivity with lithium. Silicon-clathrates consist of silicon covalently bonded in cage structures comprised of face sharing Si20, Si24 and/or Si28 clusters with guest ions occupying the interstitial positions in the polyhedra. Prior to this, silicon clathrates have been studied primarily for their superconducting and thermoelectric properties. In this work, the synthesis and electrochemical characterization of two categories of silicon clathrates - Type-I silicon clathrate with aluminum framework substitution and barium guest ions (Ba8AlxSi46-x) and Type-II silicon clathrate with sodium guest ions (Nax Si136), are explored. The Type-I clathrate, Ba8AlxSi46-x consists of an open framework of aluminium and silicon, with barium (guest) atoms occupying the interstitial positions. X-ray diffraction studies have shown that a crystalline phase of clathrate is obtained from synthesis, which is powdered to a fine particle size to be used as the anode material in a Li-ion battery. Electrochemical measurements of these type of clathrates have shown that capacities comparable to graphite can be obtained for up to 10 cycles and lower capacities can be obtained for up to 20 cycles. Unlike bulk silicon, the clathrate structure does not undergo excessive volume change upon lithium intercalation, and therefore, the crystal structure is morphologically stable over many cycles. X-ray diffraction of the clathrate after cycling showed that crystallinity is intact, indicating that the clathrate does not collapse during reversible intercalation with lithium ions. Electrochemical potential spectroscopy obtained from the cycling data showed that there is an absence of formation of lithium-silicide, which is the product of lithium alloying with diamond cubic silicon. Type II silicon clathrate, NaxSi136, consists of silicon making up the framework structure and sodium (guest) atoms occupying the interstitial spaces. These clathrates showed very high capacities during their first intercalation cycle, in the range of 3,500 mAh/g, but then deteriorated during subsequent cycles. X-ray diffraction after one cycle showed the absence of clathrate phase and the presence of lithium-silicide, indicating the disintegration of clathrate structure. This could explain the silicon-like cycling behavior of Type II clathrates.

The challenging search for clean, reliable and environmentally friendly energy sources has fueled increased research in thermoelectric materials, which are capable of recovering waste heat. Among the state-of-the-art thermoelectric materials β-Zn4Sb3 is outstanding because of its ultra-low glass-like thermal conductivity. Attempts to explore ternary phases in the Zn-Sb-In system resulted in the discovery of the new intermetallic compounds, stable Zn5Sb4In2-δ (δ=0.15) and metastable Zn9Sb6In2. Millimeter-sized crystals were grown from molten metal fluxes, where indium metal was employed as a reactive flux medium.Zn5Sb4In2-δ and Zn9Sb6In2 crystallize in new structure types featuring complex framework and the presence of structural disorder (defects and split atomic positions). The structure and phase relations between ternary Zn5Sb4In2-δ, Zn9Sb6In2 and binary Zn4Sb3 are discussed. To establish and understand structure-property relationships, thermoelectric properties measurements were carried out. The measurements suggested that Zn5Sb4In2-δ and Zn9Sb6In2 are narrow band gap semiconductors, similar to β-Zn4Sb3. Also, the peculiar low thermal conductivity of Zn4Sb3 (1 W/mK) is preserved. In the investigated temperature range 10 to 350 K Zn5Sb4In2-δ displays higher thermoelectric figure of merits than Zn4Sb3, indicating a potential significance in thermoelectric applications. Finally, the glass-like thermal conductivities of binary and ternary antimonides with complex structures are compared and the mechanism behind their low thermal conductivities is briefly discussed.