Facile synthesis of Si/C integrated electrode for high performance lithium-ion batteries

Abstract

Silicon (Si) has become one of the most promising candidates for next-generation anode for Lithium ion batteries (LIBs). However, the pristine nano Si is limited in practical use due to the rapid capacity fade resulting from the huge volume change. In this paper, a binder-free Si/C integrated electrode is constructed through a facile route in order to modify the charge/discharge performance of commercial Si. The Si/C integrated electrode exhibits a high reversible capacity of 1038 mAh g−1 after 50 cycles together with a steady coulombic efficiency of 99.8%. In particular, its initial coulombic efficiency is reach up to 70% which is much higher than that of pure Si anode. The enhanced cycling stability and increased coulombic efficiency can be ascribed to the designed integrated structure of the electrode. The elastic carbonized-PAN layer is beneficial to alleviate the huge volume change of Si during charge-discharge cycling. It also makes contribution to the improved conductivity and electronic interconnection of the electrode.