Three-dimensionally engineered porous silicon electrodes for Li ion batteries.

The ultimate goal of Li ion battery design should consist of fully accessible metallic current collectors, possibly of nanoscale dimensions, intimately in contact with high capacity stable electrode materials. Here we engineer three-dimensional porous nickel based current collector coated conformally with layers of silicon, which typically suffers from poor cycle life, to form high-capacity electrodes. These binder/conductive additive free silicon electrodes show excellent electrode adhesion resulting in superior cyclic stability and rate capability.