Comparative Study of Different Silicon/Carbon Nanocomposites as Anode Electrodes for Li-Ion Batteries

Silicon is an extensively examined anode material for use in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) owing to its high theoretical capacity and low working potential. However, silicon charge storage reactions with Li+ suffer from low conductivity and substantial volume changes during repeated electrode reactions. One established way to overcome these problems is by preparing a silicon composite with carbon materials for structural support. Here, we report the simple synthesis of different silicon/carbon hybrid composites, which are silicon nanoparticle aggregates within a carbon matrix. We have chosen acetylene black, super-p, and ketjen black as carbon sources. The synthesized composites work well as anode materials for LIBs. Comparatively, the nano silicon–carbon composite obtained from ketjen black carbon demonstrates an excellent discharge capacity of 4,000 mAh·g–1 at 0.1 C, and good rate capability of 1,100 mAh·g–1 at a 2 C rate.