Metallurgically lithiated SiO x anode with high capacity and ambient air compatibility

Significance High-capacity prelithiation of the electrodes is an important strategy to compensate for lithium loss in lithium ion batteries. Because of the high chemical reactivity, conventional prelithiation reagent often presents serious safety concerns. Here, we present a new nanocomposite as the lithium source material with homogeneously dispersed active Li x Si nanodomains embedded in a robust Li 2 O matrix, which exhibits remarkable air compatibility and cycling performance. Other than the potential impact on battery manufacturing, our study focuses on the material science to stabilize active materials by tuning nanostructures and the degree of the crystallinity. Our result is valuable to researchers working with highly sensitive materials and not limited to the batteries community.