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A stable interface between silicon anodes and electrolytes is vital to realizing reversible electrochemistry cycling for lithium‐ion batteries. Herein, a zincone polymer coating is controllably deposited on a silicon electrode using the molecular layer deposition to serve as an artificial solid electrolyte interphase (SEI). Enhanced electrochemical cycling depends on the thickness of zincone coating. The optimal zincone coating of ≈3 nm markedly improves the lithium storage performance of silicon anodes, resulting in a high reversible capacity (1741 mA h g−1 after 100 cycles at 200 mA g−1), outstanding cycling stability (1011 mA h g−1 after 500 cycles), and superior rate capability (1580 mA h g−1 at 2 A g−1). Such remarkable electrochemical reversibility stems from the in situ conversion of the zincone coating and a zincone‐driven thin lithium fluoride (LiF)‐rich SEI, which endow the silicon electrode with superior electron/ion transport and structural stability. Meanwhile, the zincone coating demonstrates good compatibility with ether‐based electrolytes (893 mA h g−1 after 200 cycles, 970 mA h g−1 at 5 A g−1). Additionally, in situ conversion of artificial zincone coating also opens a door for constructing a functional interface on other electrode surfaces, such as lithium/sodium metal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silicon-carbon composite is recognized as one of the most promising next-generation anodes for high-energy lithium-ion batteries, especially silicon-graphite composites. Herein, cost-efficient and scalable submicron/micron silicon particles are stabilized in a robust graphite-carbon architecture by solid-phase ball milling and liquid-phase coating methods. The obtained silicon-graphite-carbon composite with a stable encapsulated sandwich-like architecture exhibits impressive lithium storage performance, including high initial Coulombic efficiency of 83.7%, outstanding cycle stability and remarkable rate capability. Even at high loadings of 4 mg cm−2, it still exhibits great reversible capacity with 620 mA h g−1 after 100 cycles at 0.2 C. Furthermore, 8 wt% silicon-graphite-carbon composites as additives are applied into the full cell with a designed capacity of 1000 mA h, and the full cell displays superior cycle stability with high capacity retention of 85% after 100 cycles. In addition, the scalable and low-cost preparation makes it enormous application value and huge commercial prospect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• MP-Si is obtained through magnesiothermic reduction reaction driven from waste glass. • Micron-sized MP-Si is composed of numerous interconnected 2D nanoplates. • MP-Si possesses abundant mesoporous structure. • MP-Si anode exhibits high reversible capacity and excellent rate capability. Constructing micro-nano hierarchical porous structure is an effective strategy to solve key issues arising from the large volume change of silicon-based materials during cycling. Herein, we successfully obtain the mesoporous silicon microparticles composed of nanoplates driven from waste glass by the magnesiothermic reduction reaction. The two-dimensional nanoplates and abundant mesoporous structure in the microparticles not only effectively mitigate the mechanical strains caused by volume changes but also promote lithium ion diffusion. The silicon microparticles display outstanding lithium storage performance including extremely high first Coulombic efficiency (85.1%), remarkable reversible specific and volumetric capacities (1793 mAh g−1 and 747 mAh cm−3 after 120 cycles at 200 mA g−1, 1000 mAh g−1 after 360 cycles at 500 mA g−1) and impressive rate performance (1183.7 mA h g−1 at 1 A g−1). Simultaneously, the corresponding electrode exhibits significantly less impedance build-up and smaller electrode thickness increase than that of commercial silicon nanoparticles. Furthermore, the scalable and cost-effective method makes it an attractive candidate for next generation lithium ion batteries anode materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]