High energy Li-ion batteries (LIBs) are in great demand for electronics, electric-vehicles, and grid-scale energy storage. To further increase the energy and power densities of LIBs, Si anodes have been intensively explored due to their high capacity, and high abundance compared with traditional carbon anodes. However, the poor cycle-life caused by large volume expansion during charge/discharge process has been an impediment to its applications.

Recently, superstructured Si materials are received attention to solve above mentioned problem in terms of excellent mechanical properties, large surface area, and fast lithium and electron transportation, but applying superstructures to anode is in early stage yet. We investigated carbon nanotubes (CNTs) based porous silicon core-shell hybrid materials. The CNTs play a role as conductive channels for Li-ion diffusion and reinforcement of mechanical properties that the interconnected meso- and micro-Si pores can provide a large accessible surface area for Li-ion transport/charge storage.