Composites of porous nano-featured silicon materials and carbon materials

A method for producing a composite material comprising carbon and porous nano-sized silicon comprising:

• a) suspending particles of a silicon alloy in a liquid medium containing a dissolved acid;
• b) storing the suspended particles for a period of time at sufficient temperature to allow for erosion of metal cations from the silicon alloy into the liquid medium to yield highly friable silicon material with nano-sized features;
• c) removing the liquid medium to yield dried highly friable silicon material with nano-sized features;
• d) particle size reduction of the dried highly friable silicon material with nano-sized features to yield nano-sized silicon particles with nano-sized features;
• e) blending a mixture of polymer precursors with the nano-sized silicon particles with nano-sized features;
• f) storing the mixture of polymer precursors and the nano-sized silicon particles with nano-sized features for a period of time at sufficient temperature to allow for impregnation and polymerization of the polymer precursors within the nano-sized silicon particles with nano-sized features to yield polymer-impregnated nano-sized silicon particles with nano-sized features;
• and
• g) carbonization of the polymer-impregnated nano-sized silicon particles to yield a composite silicon-carbon material comprising a nano-sized silicon material with nano-sized features.

A method for producing a composite material comprising carbon and porous nano-featured silicon, the method comprising:

• a) suspending particles of a silicon alloy in a liquid medium containing a dissolved acid;
• b) storing the suspended particles for a period of time at sufficient temperature to allow for etching away of metal cations from the silicon alloy to yield porous silicon particles with nano-sized features;
• c) removing the liquid medium to yield dried porous silicon particles with nano-sized features;
• d) blending a mixture of polymer precursors with the dried porous silicon particles with nano-sized features;
• e) storing the mixture of polymer precursors and the dried porous silicon particles with nano-sized features for a period of time at sufficient temperature to allow for impregnation and polymerization of the polymer precursors within the porous silicon particles with nano-sized features to yield polymer-impregnated silicon particles with nano-sized features;
• f) carbonization of the polymer-impregnated silicon particles with nano-sized features to yield a composite silicon-carbon material comprising a porous silicon material with nano-sized features;
• g) suspending the composite silicon-carbon material in a solution of a conductive polymer dissolved in a solvent, or blending a solid conductive polymer with the composite silicon-carbon material;
• and
• h) optionally pyrolyzing the product of step g) at a temperature ranging from 350° C. to 1050° C.

A method for producing a composite material comprising carbon and porous silicon comprising:

• a) suspending particles of a silicon alloy in a liquid medium containing a dissolved acid;
• b) storing the suspended particles for a period of time at sufficient temperature to allow for etching away of metal cations from the silicon alloy to yield porous silicon particles with nano-sized features;
• c) removing the liquid medium to yield dried porous silicon particles with nano-sized features;
• d) blending a mixture of polymer precursors with the dried porous silicon particles with nano-sized features;
• e) storing the mixture of polymer precursors and the dried porous silicon particles with nano-sized features for a period of time at sufficient temperature to allow for impregnation and polymerization of the polymer precursors within the porous silicon particles with nano-sized features to yield polymer-impregnated silicon particles with nano-sized features;
• and
• f) carbonization of the polymer-impregnated silicon particles with nano-sized features to yield a composite silicon-carbon material comprising a porous silicon material with nano-sized features.

A method for producing a composite a material comprising carbon and porous nano-sized silicon comprising:

• a) suspending particles of a silicon alloy in a liquid medium containing a dissolved acid;
• b) storing the suspended particles for a period of time at sufficient temperature to allow for erosion of metal cations from the silicon alloy into the liquid medium to yield highly friable silicon material with nano-sized features;
• c) removing the liquid medium to yield dried highly friable silicon material with nano-sized features;
• d) particle size reduction of the dried highly friable silicon material with nano-sized features to yield nano-sized silicon particles with nano-sized features;
• e) blending a mixture of polymer precursors with the nano-sized silicon particles with nano-sized features;
• f) storing the mixture of polymer precursors and the nano-sized silicon particles with nano-sized features for a period of time at sufficient temperature to allow for impregnation and polymerization of the polymer precursors within the nano-sized silicon particles with nano-sized features to yield polymer-impregnated nano-sized silicon particles with nano-sized features;
• g) carbonization of the polymer-impregnated nano-sized silicon particles to yield a composite silicon-carbon material comprising a nano-sized silicon material with nano-sized features;
• and
• h) subjecting the composite silicon-carbon material to chemical vapor deposition to create an additional carbon layer covering the composite silicon-carbon material to yield a carbon coated composite material comprising porous nano-featured silicon and carbon.