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Improved electrochemical performance of silicon-carbon anodes by different conductive agents

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Abstract

Silica/silicon/polyacrylonitrile (SiO2/Si/PAN) composites were prepared as active anode for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) using a rational template method and liquid-phase mixing. The redox graphene (rGO), multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and their compounds are used as conductive agents. The results show that the addition of MWCNTs can improve the rate performance, while rGO can reduce the charge transfer resistance. Surprisingly, the binary conductive agents prepared by rGO and MWCNTs at the mass ration of 1:1 combined the advantages of both with a first discharge capacity of 3009 mA h g−1 at 0.1 C and a coulombic efficiency of 96%. Here, we demonstrate that SiO2/Si/PAN prepared with a binary conductive agents of equal mass ratio of rGO and MWCNTs can greatly improve the capacity, cycling performance, rate performance and conductivity of LIBs.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by a grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 61504080 and 61704107), the Young Eastern Scholar (QD2016012) of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission and Shanghai Pujiang Program (17PJ1406800).

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All authors contributed to the conception and design of the research. The research direction and the design of the experimental process were jointly completed by Professor XL, YX and QL, The collection of materials, data collation and the preparation of the first draft were all completed by WC and XL. All authors read and approved the final draft.

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Correspondence to Xuyan Liu.

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Liu, X., Chen, W., Xia, Y. et al. Improved electrochemical performance of silicon-carbon anodes by different conductive agents. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 33, 21311–21320 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-022-08920-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-022-08920-4

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