Facile fabrication of Si mesoporous nanowires for high-capacity and long-life lithium storage

Si has the second highest theoretical capacity among all the known anode materials for lithium ion batteries, whereas it is vulnerable to pulverization and crumbling upon lithiation/delithiation. Herein, Si mesoporous nanowires prepared by a scalable and cost-effective procedure are reported for the first time. Such nanowire morphology and mesoporous structure can effectively buffer the huge lithiation-induced volume expansion of Si, therefore contributing to excellent cycling stability and high-rate capability. Reversible capacities of 1826.8 and 737.4 mA h g(-1) can be obtained at 500 mA g(-1) and a very high current density of 10 A g(-1), respectively. After 1000 cycles at 2500 mA g(-1), this product still maintains a high capacity of 643.5 mA h g(-1).