TiO2-Coated Silicon Nanoparticle Core-Shell Structure for High-Capacity Lithium-Ion Battery Anode Materials

Silicon-based anode materials are considered one of the highly promising anode materials due to their high theoretical energy density; however, problems such as volume effects and solid electrolyte interface film (SEI) instability limit the practical applications. Herein, silicon nanoparticles (SiNPs) are used as the nucleus and anatase titanium dioxide (TiO₂) is used as the buffer layer to form a core-shell structure to adapt to the volume change of the silicon-based material and improve the overall interfacial stability of the electrode. In addition, silver nanowires (AgNWs) doping makes it possible to form a conductive network structure to improve the conductivity of the material. We used the core-shell structure SiNPs@TiO₂/AgNWs composite as an anode material for high-efficiency Li-ion batteries. Compared with the pure SiNPs electrode, the SiNPs@TiO₂/AgNWs electrode exhibits excellent electrochemical performance with a first discharge specific capacity of 3524.2 mAh·g^-1 at a current density of 400 mA·g^-1, which provides a new idea for the preparation of silicon-based anode materials for high-performance lithium-ion batteries.