Considering Critical Factors of Silicon/Graphite Anode Materials for Practical High-Energy Lithium-Ion Battery Applications

Silicon (Si) is considered to be the most promising anode material to replace graphite due to its higher theoretical capacity. Nanotechnology has played an important role in addressing the serious volume changes that occur during the lithium process of Si anode removal. However, the development of Si anodes has not yet reached the industry standard for the next generation of commercial lithium-ion batteries. Nowadays, with the increasing requirements for battery energy density in diverse industries, the use of silicon anode materials to increase energy density, co-utilization of Si, graphite, new binders, and electrolytes has become a commercially viable method to achieve high energy. Therefore, in this review, we emphasize the necessity of using Si/graphite anodes, new binders, and electrolytes at the same time in commercialization and carefully review the development of Si/graphite anodes. The typical Si anode mixed graphite electrode is discussed, and various strategies for constructing Si/graphite composite materials are organized according to their synthesis method. It is particularly noteworthy that we systematically introduce the key factors for the co-utilization of Si/graphite anodes, new binders, and electrolytes. Finally, some suggestions on the practical application of Si/graphite anodes are given.