Novel mesoporous silicon nanorod as an anode material for lithium ion batteries

•Novel mesoporous silicon nanorods have been prepared.•Magnesiothermic reduction method was adopted in the preparation process.•The reversible capacity can maintain 1038 mAh g−1 after 170 cycles.•The reversible capacity can retain 664 mAh g−1 at a high rate of 2000 mA g−1.

Mesoporous silicon nanorods assembled by small nanocrystals were successfully prepared using multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as a template via a facile magnesiothermic reduction process. The obtained product was characterized by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, nitrogen adsorption-desorption measurement and electrochemical measurements. The resulting mesoporous silicon nanorods as an anode exhibit a significantly improved electrochemical performance compared with the porous silicon networks and bulk silicon. The reversible capacity can retain 1038 mAh g−1 at 200 mA g−1 after 170 cycles. Even at a high rate of 2000 mA g−1, a reversible capacity of 664 mAh g−1 can still be obtained. All these results suggest that the mesoporous silicon nanorods are a promising candidate for the next generation of lithium ion batteries.

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