A novel self-supported electrode with long cycling life and high mass loading was developed based on carbon-coated Si nanowires grown in situ on highly conductive and flexible carbon fabric substrates through a nickel-catalyzed one-pot atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition. The high-quality carbon coated Si nanowires resulted in high reversible specific capacity (∼3500 mA h g-1 at 100 mA g-1), while the three-dimensional electrode's unique architecture leads to a significantly improved robustness and a high degree of electrode stability. An exceptionally long cyclability with a capacity retention of ∼66% over 500 cycles at 1.0 A g-1 was achieved. The controllable high mass loading enables an electrode with extremely high areal capacity of ∼5.0 mA h cm-2. Such a scalable electrode fabrication technology and the high-performance electrodes hold great promise in future practical applications in high energy density lithium-ion batteries.
Keywords: Si nanowires; carbon cloth; flexible electrodes; lithium-ion batteries; subeutectic growth.