Micrometer-sized nano-structured silicon/carbon composites for lithium-ion battery anodes synthesized based on a three-step Hansen solubility parameter (HSP) concept

Abstract The processing towards Si/C composites, components and synthesis parameters were selected based on the concept of Hansen solubility parameters (HSP). Si/polymer composites were generated through modified bulk polymerization and subsequent pyrolysis transformed the polymer into the desired porous carbon matrix. Coulombic efficiencies (CE) in excess of 76% after the first cycle and 99.95% after solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) formation have been achieved. A notably high specific delithiation capacity of around 1600 mAh/g with an extremely stable cycling performance even after 400 cycles is obtained. This scalable and economical synthesis approach is readily applicable to the commercial production of anode materials.