With the rapid progress and wide application of Li-ion batteries, commercial graphite anode can not satisfy the
increasing demand for higher capacities. Like other anode materials with higher capacities, silicon materials as anodes
remain serious problems for their large volume variations and poor cyclabilities during cycling. One of key problem is
how to stabilize the performances of Si anode materials. Various influencing factors of volume variation of silicon anode
materials have been reviewed, which consist of discharging voltage, amorphous or crystalline type, tube or pore
microstructure, interlayer adhesion, buffering and protective layer materials and conductive agents. Another hot issue is
on the preparation methods for silicon anode materials with high performance. It covers not only the technics of high
purity silicon materials, including the predominant Siemens process of electronic-grade silicon, but also the techniques of
silicon film anodes, which consists of butyl-capped silicon precursor, the template methods of nanostructure, magnetron
sputtering, ball-milling. From the screening of existing silicon anode materials in the literatures, the preparation methods
for promising Si anode materials and their prospects have been offered.
Engineering of carbon and other protective coating layers for stabilizing silicon anode materials