Light-assisted synthesis of copper/cuprous oxide reinforced nanoporous silicon microspheres with boosted anode performance for lithium-ion batteries

Boosting the Cell Performance of the SiO/Cu and SiO/PPy Anodes via In-Situ Reduction/Oxidation Coating Strategies

Silicon monoxide (SiO) has attracted great attention due to its high theoretical specific capacity as an alternative material for conventional graphite anode, but its poor electrical conductivity and irreversible side reactions at the SiO/electrolyte interface seriously reduce its cycling stability. Here, to overcome the drawbacks, the dicharged SiO anode coated with Cu coating layer is elaborately designed by in-situ reduction method. Compared with the pristine SiO anode of lithium-ion battery (293 mAh g-1 at 0.5 A g-1 after 200 cycles), the obtained SiO/Cu composite presents superior cycling stability (1206 mAh g-1 at 0.5 A g-1 after 200 cycles). The tight combination of Cu particles and SiO significantly improves the conductivity of the composite, effectively inhibits the side-reaction between the active material and electrolyte. In addition, polypyrrole-coated SiO composites are further prepared by in-situ oxidation method, which delivers a high reversible specific capacity of 1311 mAh g-1 at 0.5 A g-1 after 200 cycles. The in-situ coating strategies in this work provide a new pathway for the development and practical application of high-performance silicon-based anode.

Superior Electrochemical Performance of Two-Dimensional RGO/Cu/Cu2O Composite as Anode Material for Lithium-Ion Batteries

In recent years, graphene has attracted the interest of many researchers working on LIB anode materials owing to its unique 2D structure, thermal stability, and fast electron transfer. In this work, RGO/Cu/Cu2O nanocomposites were synthesized through a hydrothermal procedure. The as-prepared nanocomposites exhibited a high lithium storage capacity with improved cycling stability and great rate performance, i.e., the discharge capacity was 371.8 mAh/g after 100 cycles at a current density of 500 mA/g. These excellent properties were associated with the sheet structure symmetry of graphene enriched with the multifunctional Cu-Cu2O component, which prevented aggregation and accommodated the volume changes of the anode material during the charge–discharge tests. The RGO/Cu/Cu2O composite conferred to the LIB anode the ability to resist electrode cracking. The approach proposed in this paper can be also generalized for the synthesis of other carbon-based anode materials for LIBs.