High performance silicon carbon composite anode materials for lithium ion batteries

Silicon and silicon containing compounds are attractive anode materials for lithium batteries because of their low electrochemical potential vs. lithium and high theoretical capacities. In this work the relationship between the electrochemical performance of silicon powders and their particle sizes was studied. It is found that the material with nano particle sizes gives the best performance. New silicon/carbon composite anode materials were synthesized and their structures and electrochemical performance were investigated. The results of these studies are reported in this paper. Crown Copyright (C) 2008 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.