| abstract |
Methods for fabricating electrodes include coating a current collector with a slurry to form a coated current collector. The slurry includes a dry fraction, including silicon particles, polymeric binders, and one or more types of naturally occurring carbonaceous filaments, and one or more solvents. The coated current collector is heat treated to produce the electrode having a layer of silicon-based host material. The one or more naturally occurring carbonaceous filaments can include animal fibers, chitin, alginate, cellulose, keratin, and chitosan, and can have an average length of 1 μm to 50 μm and an average diameter of 1 nm to 500 nm. The dry fraction can include 5 wt. % to 95 wt. % silicon particles, 0.1 wt. % to 15 wt. % polymeric binders, and 1 wt. % to 20 wt. % naturally occurring carbonaceous filaments. The method can include assembling a battery cell by disposing the electrode and a positive electrode in electrolyte. |