Among all the anode materials, silicon is one of the most attractive anode materials for lithium-ion batteries because of its highest capacity of 4200 mAh g-1, satisfactory voltage window for lithium insertion and extraction (<0.5 V vs. Li/Li+), high safety and low cost. However, the practical utilization of Si as anode material is hindered by its huge volume changes (300%) induced by the lithium-ion insertion and extraction processes, culminating in the pulverization of electrode structure as well as the poor cycling performance. In addition, the low electrical conductivity of pristine Si and the difficulty in the formation of stable solid-electrolyte interface (SEI) films have also restrained the commercialization of Si anode material. Here we report a series of silicon based composites [1-10], such as self-supporting grapheme/Si film, three dimensional porous carbon/silicon composites, three dimensional silicon/TiOx/carbon framework, etc, aiming at solving the problems of current silicon anode materials. Those porous silicon based anode materials have demonstrated to be effective in maintaining good electronic contact among particles and accommodating the mechanical stresses experienced by the huge volume change of active silicon associated with Li insertion/extraction processes.

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