Scribable multi-walled carbon nanotube-silicon nanocomposites: a viable lithium-ion battery system

A novel electrode fabrication technique involving a manual scribing action of vertically aligned silicon coated multiwall carbon nanotubes (VASCNTs) on a copper foil have been developed as a viable approach to Li-ion battery electrodes. The scribed electrodes were prepared without the use of any conductive additives and binders, and they were directly assembled in a coin cell. These 'binder-less' scribed Si-CNT electrodes exhibited a very high discharge capacity in excess of 3000 mA h g(-1) and a low first cycle irreversible loss (FIR) (19%). In addition, the electrodes also showed good cyclability with capacity retention of 76% at the end of 50 cycles corresponding to a fade rate of 0.48% loss per cycle rendering the technique attractive for suitable Li-ion applications.