Carbon nanowalls decorated with silicon for lithium-ion batteries

Abstract Carbon nanowalls (CNWs) are suggested as a promising nanostructured substrate for 3D anodes of lithium-ion batteries. Silicon sputtering onto CNWs results in improved electrochemical performance due to either a large surface area of free-standing CNWs or easy adhesion of deposited silicon clusters via the SiC interface layer formation. The 3D silicon-decorated nanowall framework (SDNF) could give the possibility to minimize the lithium diffusion length and make charge collection more effective yielding better cycling performance at high rates exceeding 2000 mA h per 1 g of silicon in the range of 0.05–2.00 V at 1.5 C rate.