Spider-web-inspired cellulose nanofibrils networking polyaniline-encapsulated silica nanoparticles as anode material of lithium-ion batteries

As the promising anode material of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), SiO 2 has high theoretical capacity, but the volume expansion severely hinders its application. To address the challenge, inspired by the highly flexible spider-web architecture, the SiO 2 @carbonized polyaniline/carbonized 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (TEMPO)-oxidized cellulose nanofibrils (SiO 2 @cPANI/cTOCNFs) composite was designed, and fabricated via carbonizing the freeze-dried SiO 2 @PANI/TOCNFs. The resultant SiO 2 @cPANI/cTOCNFs composite exhibited unique spider-web-like nanostructures , providing a double-layer carbon network to protect SiO 2 anode material. The results showed that, the SiO 2 @cPANI/cTOCNFs composite as anode material of LIBs offered a reversible capacity of 1103 mAh g −1 at a current density of 0.1 A g −1 after 200 cycles, and gave a capacity of 302 mAh g −1 after 1000 cycles at a current density of 1 A g −1 , exhibiting excellent cycling stability. This study provides a strategy of spider-web-inspired cellulose nanofibrils networking polyaniline-encapsulated silica nanoparticles as anode material of LIBs.