Gold-coated silicon nanowire–graphene core–shell composite film as a polymer binder-free anode for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries

•Gold-coated silicon nanowires/graphene hybrid composite as a polymer binder-free anode for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries.•Strong adhesion comes from the bonding process between Au, SiNWs and G, which prevents fast capacity fading during cycling.•Simple, wafer-scale, and low-cost process for the fabrication of high energy density anodes for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries.

We designed and fabricated a gold (Au)-coated silicon nanowires/graphene (Au–SiNWs/G) hybrid composite as a polymer binder-free anode for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). A large amount of SiNWs for LIB anode materials can be prepared by metal-assisted chemical etching (MaCE) process. The Au–SiNWs/G composite film on current collector was obtained by vacuum filtration using an anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membrane and hot pressing method. Our experimental results show that the Au–SiNWs/G composite has a stable reversible capacity of about 1520 mA h/g which was maintained for 20 cycles. The Au–SiNWs/G composite anode showed much better cycling performance than SiNWs/polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)/Super-P, SiNWs/G composite, and pure SiNWs anodes. The improved electrochemical properties of the Au–SiNWs/G composite anode material is mainly ascribed to the composite׳s porous network structure.

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