Conformal Coatings of Cyclized‐PAN for Mechanically Resilient Si nano‐Composite Anodes

Cyclized-polyacrylonitrile (cyclized-PAN) is used as a conformal coating on nano-Si for highly reversible anodes. Cyclization of PAN proceeds by limiting the pyrolysis to 300 °C such that the cyclized-PAN maintains its polymeric properties while also providing sp2 π bonding for good electronic conductivity. Cyclized-PAN is thus a conjugated polymer with good mechanical resiliency to accommodate Si's volumetric expansion and also good mixed conductivity.