Carbon-coated SiO for LIBs with superior capacity and cycle stability.

• SiO@C composite materials are constructed with phenolic resin pyrolysis method. • SiO@C has an outer rigid carbon coating that effectively alleviates large volume changes. • High durability of the core–shell structure improves the cycling stability of anode. • SiO@C-20 exhibits a discharge capacity of 603 mAh·g−1 after 100 cycles. Silicon monoxide (SiO) is suggested as anode for LIBs with excellent theoretical capacity. Unfortunately, the low electrical conductivity and volume expansion limit its practical application. The preparation of SiO@C composites can effectively solve these problems. SiO@C composite materials are constructed with phenolic resin pyrolysis method. Experimental data indicate that SiO@C-20 with carbon content of 20 wt% possesses a high discharge capacity and superior initial coulombic efficiency (74.81 %) compared to others. The superior performance can be attributed mainly to carbon ratio with adjusting phenolic resin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]