Few-Layer Silicene Nanosheets with Superior Lithium-Storage Properties

Silicene, a 2D silicon allotrope with unique low-buckled structure, has attracted increasing attention in recent years due to its many superior properties. So far, epitaxial growth is one of the very limited ways to obtain high-quality silicene, which severely impedes the research and application of silicene. Therefore, large-scale synthesis of silicene is a great challenge, yet urgently desired. Herein, the first scalable preparation of free-standing high-quality silicene nanosheets via liquid oxidation and exfoliation of CaSi2 is reported. This new synthesis strategy successfully induces mild oxidation of the (Si-2n)(2n-) layers in CaSi2 into neutral Si-2n layers without damage of pristine silicene structure and promotes the exfoliation of stacked silicene layers. The obtained silicene sheets are dispersible and ultrathin ones with monolayer or few-layer thickness and exhibit excellent crystallinity. As a unique 2D layered silicon allotrope, the silicene nanosheets are further explored as new anodes for lithium-ion batteries and exhibit a nearly theoretical capacity of 721 mAh g(-1) at 0.1 A g(-1) and an extraordinary cycling stability with no capacity decay after 1800 cycles in contrast to previous most silicon anodes showing rapid capacity decay, thus holding great promise for energy storage and beyond.