Novel scalable synthesis of porous silicon/carbon composite as anode material for superior lithium-ion batteries

A novel method for scalable fabricating porous silicon/carbon composite as anode material for lithium-ion batteries is reported in this article. Diatomite is used as a raw material for synthesis of porous silicon via combining mechanical ball milling with magnesiothermic reduction method, employing NaCl as a heat scavenger. The resulting silicon maintains the porous structure of diatomite, with large specific surface area of 288.5 m 2  g −1 and average pore size of 9.6 nm. The C@pSi-I composite delivers improved cycling stability and good rate capability. A discharge capacity of 1116.7 mA h g −1 at current density of 200 mA g −1 is achieved after 200 cycles, which will be beneficial to the scalable synthesis of porous silicon materials for the next generation lithium-ion batteries.