Raspberry-like Nanostructured Silicon Composite Anode for High-Performance Lithium-Ion Batteries

Adjusting the particle size and nanostructure or applying carbon materials as the coating layers is a promising method to hold the volume expansion of Si for its practical application in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Herein, the mild carbon coating combined with a molten salt reduction is precisely designed to synthesize raspberry-like hollow silicon spheres coated with carbon shells (HSi@C) as the anode materials for LIBs. The HSi@C exhibits a remarkable electrochemical performance; a high reversible specific capacity of 886.2 mAh g-1 at a current density of 0.5 A g-1 after 200 cycles is achieved. Moreover, even after 500 cycles at a current density of 2.0 A g-1, a stable capacity of 516.7 mAh g-1 still can be obtained.