Carbon-silicon composite anode electrodes modified with MWCNT for high energy battery applications

Abstract

In this study, we comparatively study the electrochemical characteristics of Si, Si-C and vacuum-assisted filtration fabrication of a novel free-standing Si@C/Mutli Wall Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNT) nanocomposite. The surfaces of the as-received Si nanaoparticles were coated with an amorphous carbon layer and homogenously anchored onto the surfaces of as-received MWCNTs by a simple vacuum filtration method. The samples were then analyzed with field emission scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD) methods. Si@C/MWCNT samples have shown a stable capacity of 1290 mA h g(-1) after 200 cycles. The results have proven that MWCNT's large surface area, highly conductive network which can provide good contact between Si@C nanoparticles, tolerating large volume change sand suppressing aggregation of Si@C nanoparticles during charge/discharge processes. Such a comparison between the performances of carbon-MWCNT-metal materials is reasonably envisaged not only to be useful for understanding the individual contribution from MWCNT and metal but also to form a fundamental basis for energy storage applications. Free-standing Si-C/MWCNT nano paper has been successfully obtained by a facile vacuum filtration method. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.