Severe
volume expansion and poor ionic transport greatly
impede
the further application of micro-Si anodes despite their high energy
density and low processing cost. To address these challenges, we propose
a Si/C composite anode (denoted as WM-30C). In this design, wet milling
introduces an oxide layer as the core, while high-temperature heat
treatment with bitumen regulates the silicon valence state and introduces
a strong Si–C bond, forming the shell. In this design, during
the wet milling process of micro-Si, a layer of oxide is introduced
in situ on the surface to form Si@SiO2 as the core. The
high-temperature heat treatment is then employed to adjust the valence
state of silicon, and in conjunction with bitumen, strong Si–C
bonds are introduced, ultimately forming the shell layer. As a result,
the WM-30C composites exhibit an impressive initial Coulombic efficiency
of 83.4% and high rate performance. Furthermore, they maintain a steady
cycling rate of 614 mA h/g (0.2C) for 325 cycles and nearly negligible
capacity degradation at a constant capacity of 600 mA h/g. These results
highlight the significant improvement in electrochemical properties
achieved by incorporating a multiphase structure (SiO
x
+ SiC + C) through a cost-effective wet chemical
reaction of silicon and a bitumen heat treatment process in micro-Si-based
composites.