Surface Coating Constraint Induced Anisotropic Swelling of Silicon in Si-Void@SiOx Nanowire Anode for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Here a simple and an environmentally friendly approach is developed for the fabrication of Si-void@SiOx nanowires of a high-capacity Li-ion anode material. The outer surface of the robust SiOx backbone and the inside void structure in Si-void@SiOx nanowires appropriately suppress the volume expansion and lead to anisotropic swelling morphologies of Si nanowires during lithiation/delithiation, which is first demonstrated by the in situ lithiation process. Remarkably, the Si-void@SiOx nanowire electrode exhibits excellent overall lithium-storage performance, including high specific capacity, high rate property, and excellent cycling stability. A reversible capacity of 1981 mAh g(-1) is obtained in the fourth cycle, and the capacity is maintained at 2197 mAh g(-1) after 200 cycles at a current density of 0.5 C. The outstanding overall properties of the Si-void@SiOx nanowire composite make it a promising anode material of lithium-ion batteries for the power-intensive energy storage applications.