Optimising hollow-structured silicon nanoparticles for lithium-ion batteries

Silicon has been proven to be one of the most promising anode materials for the next generation of lithium-ion batteries for application in batteries, the Si anode should have high capacity and must be industrially scalable. In this study, we designed and synthesised a hollow structure to meet these requirements. All the processes were carried out without special equipment. The Si nanoparticles that are commercially available were used as the core sealed inside a TiO₂ shell, with rationally designed void space between the particles and shell. The Si@TiO₂ were characterised using X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The optimised hollow-structured silicon nanoparticles, when used as the anode in a lithium-ion battery, exhibited a high reversible specific capacity over 630 mAhg⁻¹, much higher than the 370 mAhg⁻¹ from the commercial graphite anodes. This excellent electrochemical property of the nanoparticles could be attributed to their optimised phase and unique hollow nanostructure.