Scalable Fabrication of Silicon Nanotubes and their Application to Energy Storage

The facile synthesis of silicon nanotubes using a surface sol–gel reaction on pyridine nanowire templates is reported and their performance for energy storage is investigated. Organic–inorganic hybrid pyridine/silica core-shell nanowires prepared using surface sol–gel reaction were converted to silica nanotubes by pyrolysis in air; this was followed by the reduction to silicon nanotubes via magnesiothermic reaction. The electrochemical activity of the obtained silicon nanotubes showed excellent cycle stability, suggesting that the hollow one-dimensional structure would be a good candidate for a high-capacity anode for a lithium ion battery. Detailed facts of importance to specialist readers are published as "Supporting Information". Such documents are peer-reviewed, but not copy-edited or typeset. They are made available as submitted by the authors. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.