Electrochemical studies of the Si-based composites with large capacity and good cycling stability as anode materials for rechargeable lithium ion batteries

The Si–C and Si–M–C (C, the disordered carbon) composites prepared from pyrolysis reaction and high-energy mechanical milling process have a significant enhancement in the electrochemical cycling stability over pure silicon. The introduction of the hard co-milling components (M, such as TiB2 and TiN) in the Si–C composite before pyrolysis reaction brings an improvement in the charging rate and cycling performance, but it leads to a slight loss in the reversible capacity. The full cell with the composite anodes and the LiCo0.2Ni0.8O2 cathode was fabricated to show large anode capacity over 600 mAh g−1 within a potential range of 2.3–3.9 V that might result in a high energy density. The Si-based composites appear to be the promising anode candidates for Li-ion batteries.