Abstract

Highly porous, conductive Si-CNT sponge-like structures with a large areal mass loading are demonstrated as effective Li-ion battery anode materials. Nanopore formation and growth in the Si shell has been identified as the primary failure mode of the Si-CNT sponge anode, and the formation of such nanopores can be minimized by tuning the cutoff voltages. In conjunction with experiments, a theoretical analysis was carried out to explain the pore formation mechanism. Detailed facts of importance to specialist readers are published as "Supporting Information". Such documents are peer-reviewed, but not copy-edited or typeset. They are made available as submitted by the authors. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.