Facile synthesis of reduced graphene oxide-porous silicon composite as superior anode material for lithium-ion battery anodes

We report a new method for synthesizing reduced graphene oxide (rGO)-porous silicon composite for lithium-ion battery anodes. Rice husks were used as a as a raw material source for the synthesis of porous Si through magnesiothermic reduction process. The as-obtained composite exhibits good rate and cycling performance taking advantage of the porous structure of silicon inheriting from rice husks and the outstanding characteristic of graphene. A considerably high delithiation capacity of 907 mA h g−1 can be retained even at a rate of 16 A g−1. A discharge capacity of 830 mA h g−1 at a current density of 1 A g−1 was delivered after 200 cycles. This may contribute to the further advancement of Si-based composite anode design.