Balanced approach to safety of high capacity silicon-germanium-carbon nanotube free-standing lithium ion battery anodes

► Electrochemical performance and safety of the hetero-hybrid Si-Ge-NP:SWCNT anodes is improved over Ge-NP:SWCNT anodes. ► The approach of depositing silicon to act in a bi-functional manner to increase lithium ion storage and passivate high surface area SWCNTs was studied. ► The reduction of surface area by the inclusion of silicon reduces the exothermic release of the hetero-hybrid anodes.