Silica is a promising anode material for high‐energy lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs), but it suffers from several problems. The main issue is low electrical conductivity, which limits its practical applications. Fabricating silica–carbon nanocomposites (C/SiO2) can significantly enhance the electrochemical performance of these materials. In this work, the authors perform first principles calculations to investigate the interfacial properties and electronic structure between carbon and small Si‐based molecules. The simulations suggest that C/SiO2 and C/SiO interfaces facilitate the lithiation process, providing additional lithium storage pathways in addition to the typical phase transitions of SiO2 and SiO. In addition, a simple production and ready to scale‐up method is proposed to fabricate a nanocomposite possessing rich C/SiOx (1 ≤ x ≤ 2) interfaces. The resulting nanocomposite anode has a stable capacity of ~650 mAh g‐1 at a current density of 1 A g‐1 after 1500 cycles with >95% capacity retention. This work provides a better understanding of the Li ion storage mechanisms of C/SiOx. Adding carbon not only increases electrical conductivity and strength, but also provides new pathways for Li‐ion transport through their interfaces contributing to the enhanced stability and electrochemical properties of inexpensive non‐conducting/oxide‐based energy storage materials.
Aluminium-ion batteries (AIBs) are a promising energy storage system due to their significant advantages of low cost, high anode capacity and safety. Nevertheless, the critical challenge limiting AIB performance is an inadequate cathode capacity that diminishes their cell energy density. To overcome this limitation, it is important to develop novel cathode materials with high cathode capacity for AIBs. Herein, we report an activated carbon derived from coconut shell chars for use as a cathode material in AIBs. The activated carbon was synthesized via KOH activation and carbonization. The prepared cathode material exhibits a high specific capacity of 38 mAh g−1 at a high current density of 1 A g−1 due to its high specific surface area of 2686 m2 g−1, which is beneficial for chloroaluminate-ion accommodation. This result indicates that the activated carbon derived from coconut shell chars with its high surface area is electrochemically active and is likely to be a promising cathode material for AIBs.
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