Engineered Si Sandwich Electrode: Si Nanoparticles/Graphite Sheet Hybrid on Ni Foam for Next-Generation High-Performance Lithium-Ion Batteries

Si-based electrodes for lithium ion batteries typically exhibit high specific capacity but poor cycling performance. A possible strategy to improve the cycling performance is to design novel electrode nanostructure. Here we report a design and fabrication of Ni/Si-Nanoparticles/Graphite Clothing hybrid electrodes with sandwich structure. An efficient dip-coating of Si-NPs combined with carbon deposition was adopted to synthesize the unique architecture, where the Si-NPs are sandwiched between the Ni matrix and the graphite clothing. This material architecture offers many critical features that are desirable for high-performance Si-based electrodes, including efficient ion diffusion, high conductivity, and structure durability, thus ensuring the electrode with outstanding electrochemical performance (reversible capacity of 1800 mA h g^-1 at 2 A g^-1 after 500 cycles). In addition, the hybrid anode does not require any polymeric binder and conductive additives, and holds great potential for application in Li-ion batteries.