Fundamental Mechanisms and Promising Strategies for the Industrial Application of SiOx Anode

Abstract SiO x anode with higher specific capacity than graphite and better capacity retention than pure Si has received great attention from both academia and the industry. However, the further application of SiO x suffers from its low initial Coulombic efficiency and inadequate capacity retention. The academia has reported numerous strategies to overcome these obstacles, such as nanosizing, pore designing, nanoarchitecture, etc., while seldom did they satisfy the requirement of the industry, which asks for anode material with excellent performance in all performance metrics (e.g., specific capacity, initial Coulombic efficiency, capacity retention, tap density). Besides, the reproducibility, production cost, and safety of the strategies are less concerned, leading to the “misalignment” between academia and the industry. In this review, the advancements in the modification strategies, which are already or likely to be accepted by the industry, are introduced in detail and critically evaluated. Moreover, the fundamental mechanisms of SiO x and the relationship between its structure and performance are systematically discussed. In the end, outlooks and suggestions for future research are given to provide meaningful guidance.