1-Aminopyrene-modified functionalized carbon nanotubes wrapped with silicon as a high-performance lithium-ion battery anode

Silicon (Si) is regarded as a great promising anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to its high theoretical capacity and low lithium storage potential. However, the practical application of pure silicon is greatly limited by its low electrical conductivity and large volume expansion. It is well known that the modification ofsilicon negative materials with carbon tubes is a good strategy to overcome the low conductivity and poor cycling stability of silicon anode. In this work, the APOCs@Si composite is successfully synthesized by 1-aminopyrene (AP) modified oxidized carbon nanotubes (OCs) compounded silicon nanoparticles under ultrasonication-stirring condition. The APOCs@Si electrode presents a considerable reversible capacity of 913.7 mAh.g(-1) with a stable structure after 610 cycles at a current density of 0.5A g(-1), and the first reversible capacity is 3543.0 mAh.g(-1) at 0.1A g(-1). The physico-chemical properties indicate that the incorporation of AP and OCs builds the interwoven CNTs networks, which serve as a matrix to buffer the volume expansion of silicon and boost the electronic conductivity of the electrode, to achieve remarkable capacity and cycle performance of APOCs@Si electrode. These remarkable results have further showed AP modified OCs as a buffer matrix significantly improve the cycle performance of silicon anode materials.