High-Performance Silicon/Carbon/Graphite Composites as Anode Materials for Lithium Ion Batteries

Silicon/carbon and silicon/carbon/graphite composites have been synthesized at room temperature using concentrated H2 S O4 as a dehydration agent. As a ductile matrix, the novel amorphous carbon obtained from the dehydration process could effectively buffer the volume change of silicon particles during discharge-charge cycling. The introduction of graphite in the silicon/carbon composite further improved the cycling performance. The composite with 30 wt % of amorphous carbon replaced by graphite demonstrated a stable capacity of 712.8 mAh g-1 and a high capacity retention ratio of 84.1% at 0.1 C over 50 cycles, suggesting it is a favorable candidate as anode material for lithium-ion batteries.