Hydrogen Bonding-Assisted Synthesis of Silica/Oxidized Mesocarbon Microbeads Encapsulated in Amorphous Carbon as Stable Anode for Optimized/Enhanced Lithium Storage

Abstract

The practical application of silica-based composites as an alternative to commercial graphite anode materials is hampered by their large volumetric expansion, poor conductivity, and low Coulombic efficiency. In this work, a novel silica/oxidized mesocarbon microbead/amorphous carbon (SiO2/O’MCMB/C) hierarchical structure in which SiO2 is sandwiched between spherical graphite and amorphous carbon shell was successfully fabricated through hydrogen bonding-assisted self-assembly and post-carbon coating method. The obtained three-layer hierarchical structure effectively accommodates the volumetric expansion of SiO2 and significantly enhances the electronic conductivity of composite materials. Moreover, the outer layer of amorphous carbon effectively increases the diffusion rate of lithium ions and promotes the formation of stable SEI film. As a result, the SiO2/O’MCMB/C composite exhibits superior electrochemical performance with a reversible capacity of 459.5 mA h/g in the first cycle, and the corresponding Coulombic efficiency is 62.8%. After 300 cycles, the capacity climbs to around 600 mA h/g. This synthetic route provides an efficient method for preparing SiO2 supported on graphite with excellent electrochemical performance, which is likely to promote its commercial applications.