Li-ion batteries (LIBs) are the choice of energy storage technology in electric and hybrid electric vehicles (EV/HEVs) at least for the next ten years. Elemental silicon is a promising alternative anode material for LIBs to replace the currently used graphite as it has the highest theoretical capacity of all the materials. However, during the charging/discharging cycles of LIB, the lithiation/delithiation process of silicon produces huge volume expansion/contraction making silicon very unstable and useless in real battery applications. In the proposed project, will develop a novel synthesis method to produce a hybrid anode material consisting of the carbon nanotube (CNT) core and the PSi shell. The aim of the project is to provide an affordable high-performance PSi@CNT material, which is feasible for the next generation LIB anodes. As a result, the project will make a significant contribution to the development of high energy silicon-based anodes

2021