Titanium Monoxide-Stabilized Silicon Nanoparticles with a Litchi-like Structure as an Advanced Anode for Li-ion...

Silicon (Si) has been considered as the most potential anode material for next-generation high-energy density lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) because of its extremely high theoretical capacity. However, the performance deterioration caused by volume change and low electrical conductivity of active Si particles greatly limit its commercial use. Here, we designed a nonstoichiometric TiO-coated Si anode with a litchi-like structure, in which Si-Ti and Si-O dual bonds are expected to form between the Si core and TiO shell. This unique structure plays a major role in preventing the volume expansion and improving the electrical conductivity of the Si anode. The as-prepared TiO-coated Si anode could exhibit excellent cycling stability after 1000 cycles at 1000 mA g^-1 with a relatively small capacity decay rate of ∼0.04% per cycle, which can be comparable to most of the modified Si anodes in references. This strategy of surface regulating on the Si anode could be extended to other electrodes with large volume expansion during cycling in LIBs for achieving competitive electrochemical properties.