A new composite anode, Fe–Cu–Si/C for lithium ion battery

A new anode composite material comprising Fe, Cu and Si in conjunction with graphite has been obtained through high energy ball milling (HEBM) technique. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis predicts that the milled composite particles remain in the elemental state and the scanning electron microscope (SEM) pictures show that the electrode annealed at 200 °C consists of well-defined aggregate particulates with interspaces. The composite electrode exhibits high initial discharge and charge capacity of 809 and 464 mAh g−1, respectively with a sustainable reversible capacity >385 mAh g−1 at 30th cycle and maintains high coulombic efficiency >95% after 4th cycle. As the annealing temperature is changed from 110 to >150 °C, the irreversible capacity increased from 158 to 340 mAh g−1.