Bridging silicon materials and electrode engineering for high energy density lithium ion battery anodes

Silicon anodes are among the most promising candidates for next-generation lithium-ion batteries because of their exceptionally high theoretical capacity, but their practical implementation remains constrained by severe volume expansion, unstable interfacial chemistry, low initial Coulombic efficiency, and limited scalability. In this Perspective, we highlight that these challenges cannot be resolved through active-material design alone, but require an integrated co-design strategy that connects silicon materials, electrode architecture, interfacial chemistry, and processing technology. Recent advances in carbon-based composite frameworks, functional coatings, conductive networks, binders, electrolyte additives, dry electrode processing, and prelithiation strategies are discussed with particular emphasis on our group’s contributions. These studies collectively demonstrate that practical silicon-anode design depends on coordinated control of structural robustness, Li-ion transport, SEI evolution, and manufacturability, especially in thick-film and high-density electrode systems. This Perspective underscores that bridging the gap between laboratory-scale material innovation and commercial battery implementation will require holistic electrode engineering rather than isolated materials optimization.