Sustainable silicon anodes facilitated via a double-layer interface engineering: Inner SiOx combined with outer nitrogen and boron co-doped carbon

Silicon-based(Si)materials are promising anodes for lithium-ion batteries(LIBs)because of their ultrahigh theoretical capacity of 4200 mA h g^(−1).However,commercial applications of Si anodes have been hindered by their drastic volume variation(∼300%)and low electrical conductivity.Here,to tackle the drawbacks,a hierarchical Si anode with double-layer coatings of a SiOx inner layer and a nitrogen(N),boron(B)co-doped carbon(C-NB)outer layer is elaborately designed by copyrolysis of Si-OH structures and a H3BO_(3)-doped polyaniline polymer on the Si surface.Compared with the pristine Si anodes(7mA h g^(−1) at 0.5 A g^(−1) after 340 cycles and 340 mA h g^(−1) at 5 A g^(−1)),the modified Si-based materials(Si@SiOx@C-NB nanospheres)present su perior cycling stability(reversible 1301 mA h g^(−1) at 0.5 A g^(−1) after 340 cycles)as well as excellent rate capability(690mA h g^(−1) at 5 A g^(−1))when used as anodes in LIBs.The unique double-layer coating structure,in which the inner amorphous SiOx layer acts as a buffer matrix and the outer defect-rich carbon enhances the electron diffusion of the whole anode,makes it possible to de liver excellent electrochemical properties.These results indicate that our double-layer coating strategy is a promising approach not only for the devel opment of sustainable Si anodes but also for the design of multielement-doped carbon nanomaterials.