With the rapid development of new energy vehicles and energy storage industries, enhancing the energy density and cycle life of lithium- ion batteries has become a critical technological bottleneck. Silicon-carbon composite anode materials, leveraging silicon's high theoretical specific capacity and carbon's excellent conductivity, demonstrate significant potential in overcoming the performance limitations of traditional graphite anodes. This paper systematically elucidates the lithium storage mechanism of silicon-based materials and their inherent defects. It analyzes the role of carbon materials in composite systems, including structural support, enhanced conductivity, and interfacial stabilization. Performance optimization strategies are summarized from perspectives including interfacial engineering, structural regulation, surface modification, and heteroatom doping. Research results indicate that the first-cycle coulombic efficiency of the comprehensively optimized Si/C composite anode exceeds 90%, with a capacity retention rate surpassing 80% after 100 cycles, maintaining excellent stability under high-rate conditions. However, its industrialization still faces challenges such as precise structural control, development of low-cost carbon sources, high areal loading stability, and insufficient understanding of interfacial mechanisms. This paper proposes a synergistic approach integrating “material design—process development— mechanism exploration” to achieve a controllable, green, and low-energy- consumption fabrication pathway. This provides a theoretical foundation and technical reference for developing high-energy-density, long-life lithium-ion batteries.
Jiang et al. (Fri,) studied this question.