Highly dispersive and electrically conductive silver-coated Si anodes synthesized via a simple chemical reduction process

We describe a simple, but straightforward process to synthesize electrically conductive Ag-coated Si anode materials via a simple chemical reduction process. One-pot reduction process in the presence of alkylamine leads to a formation of Ag-coated Si particles at low temperature. The Ag-coated Si particles are highly dispersive and stable in aqueous and alcoholic solvents and significantly enhance the electrical conductivity of Si particles with a poor conductivity. The electrically conductive Ag-coated Si electrodes exhibited excellent electrochemical performances.