Lithium-ion batteries with high-performance anodes comprising graphite(s) and silicon-based nanocomposites

A battery anode, comprising:

• a binder;
• a conductive additive;
• and
• an active material blend comprising silicon (Si)-comprising active material particles and graphite active material particles,
• wherein:
• a mass fraction of the Si in the Si-comprising active material particles is in a range of about 20 wt. % to about 80 wt. %;
• a mass ratio of the Si-comprising active material particles to the graphite active material particles is in a range of about 60:40 to about 98:2;
• at least a subset of the graphite active material particles is characterized by a Raman spectrum in which a full-width half-maximum (FWHM) of a D band is in a range of about 30 cm−1 to about 90 cm−1, a FWHM of a G band is in a range from about 5 cm−1 to about 105 cm−1, a FWHM of a 2D1 band is in a range from about 30 cm−1 to about 110 cm−1, and a D/G peak intensity ratio, defined as an intensity of a D peak divided by an intensity of a G peak, is in a range from about 0.02 to about 1.12;
• and
• an average pressure (Cx) required to deform the at least the subset of the graphite active material particles by 10% during a micro-compression hardness test ranges from about 1 MPa to about 18 MPa.

A battery anode, comprising:

• a binder;
• a conductive additive;
• and
• an active material blend comprising silicon (Si)-comprising active material particles and graphite active material particles,
• wherein:
• a mass fraction of the Si in the Si-comprising active material particles is in a range of about 20 wt. % to about 80 wt. %;
• a mass ratio of the Si-comprising active material particles to the graphite active material particles is in a range of about 7:93 to about 40:60;
• at least a subset of the graphite active material particles is characterized by a Raman spectrum in which a full-width half-maximum (FWHM) of a D band is in a range of about 30 cm−1 to about 90 cm−1, a FWHM of a G band is in a range from about 5 cm−1 to about 105 cm−1, a FWHM of a 2D1 band is in a range from about 30 cm−1 to about 110 cm−1, and a D/G peak intensity ratio, defined as an intensity of a D peak divided by an intensity of a G peak, is in a range from about 0.02 to about 1.12;
• and
• an average pressure (Cx) required to deform the at least the subset of the graphite active material particles by 10% during a micro-compression hardness test ranges from about 20 MPa to about 30 MPa.