Scalable Synthesis of Dual-Carbon Enhanced Silicon-Suboxide/Silicon Composite as Anode for Lithium Ion Batteries
The SiOx/Si composite enhanced by dual-carbon (i.e., multiwall carbon nanotubes and carbon) was fabricated from the micro silicon monoxide (SiO) by the combination of high-energy mechanical milling, spray drying and pyrolysis. The obtained SiOx/Si particles were composed of Si-suboxide and embedded nano-sized Si crystallites. As one of dual-carbons, the multi-walled carbon nanotubes were directly scaffolded of anchoring the SiOx/Si composite particles through spray drying. Another carbon source was directly deposited on the surface of the SiOx/Si by means of the carbonization of phenol–formaldehyde resin. Nano-sized silicon embedded in the Si-suboxide matrix and dual-carbon provided a compromise between the reversible capacity and cycle stability related to the volume change. The obtained SiOx/Si/MWCNT/PC-1 electrode delivered an initial capacity of 936.5[Formula: see text]mAh g[Formula: see text] and the reversible capacity was maintained at 825.9[Formula: see text]mAh g[Formula: see text] with excellent capacity retention of 87.5% on the 200th cycle versus the 6th one (compared with the same current rate). In contrast, although the SiOx/Si presented the higher initial capacity of 1271.4[Formula: see text]mAh g[Formula: see text], its capacity dropped quickly after several cycles and capacity retention was only 25.6% versus the 6th cycle after 100 cycles.