Green synthesis of nanoporous Si/C anode using NaCl template with improved cycle life

Porous silicon/carbon (Si/C) structure has been proved of great help to enhance the electrochemical cycling performance of Si-based anode materials. Current fabrication of porous Si based anodes usually relies on the complicated chemical etching process with unavoidable pollution problem. Herein, a nanoporous Si/C composite was successfully fabricated by a facile spray drying and carbonization process. The environmentally benign NaCl is used as the sacrificing template for the generation of embedded nanopores, which can be easily removed by routine washing process. The as-prepared nanoporous Si/C anode exhibits a high reversible specific capacity of around 900 mAh g(-1) with 78.2% capacity retention after 100 cycles. This synthetic method paves a simple and environment-friendly way to build porous Si based anode with improved electrochemical performance which is significantly important for the industrial production. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.