Silica gel combing with zinc nanoparticles as high-rate and long-cycle anodes for lithium-ion batteries

Silicon oxides are considered as potential anode materials for next generation lithium-ion batteries owing to their high specific capacity, low cost and suitable work voltage. However, the commercial advance has been impeded by their intrinsic low conductivity and severe volume change. In order to overcome the above issues, herein, a porous SiO 2 combing with Zn nanoparticle (SG@Zn) composite is designed and prepared by a simple but effective melt-self-assembly method, in which, SiO 2 is obtained from the silica gel. The presence of Zn not only improves the cyclic stability but also enhances the diffusion kinetics of Li  +  ion in the SiO 2 anodes. As expected, the fabricated SG@Zn anode has a high initial capacity of 830 mA h g −1 and the capacity maintaining ratio reaches 72 % after 300 cycles. It is worth noting that the rate performance is also boosted significantly, delivering capacity up to 455 mA h g − 1  at current density of 800 mA g − 1 , which is superior to the single silica gel anode. The electrochemical performance measurement results indicate the great potential of the prepared SG@Zn composite as a high-performance and low-cost anode material for the next generation high-specific-energy lithium-ion batteries.