Electroactive Materials for Metal-Ion Batteries

A particulate material comprising a plurality of composite particles, wherein the composite particles comprise:

• (a) a porous carbon framework comprising micropores and mesopores, wherein
• (i) the micropores and mesopores have a total pore volume as measured by gas adsorption of P1 cm3/g, wherein P1 has a value of at least 0.6 and no more than 2;
• (ii) the volume fraction of micropores (φa) is in the range from 0.5 to 0.9, based on the total volume of micropores and mesopores;
• (iii) the volume fraction of pores having a pore diameter no more than 10 nm (φ10) is at least 0.75, based on the total volume of micropores and mesopores;
• and
• (iv) the porous carbon framework has a D50 particle size of less than 20 μm;
• and
• (b) a plurality of nanoscale silicon domains located within the micropores and/or mesopores of the porous carbon framework,
• wherein the weight ratio of silicon to the porous carbon framework in the composite particles is in the range from [1×P1 to 1.9×P1]:
• 1;
• and
• wherein the sum of the amount of silicon and carbon of the composite particles is at least 80 wt %.

A particulate material comprising a plurality of composite particles, wherein the composite particles comprise:

• (a) a porous carbon framework comprising micropores and mesopores, wherein
• (i) the micropores and mesopores have a total pore volume as measured by gas adsorption of P1 cm3/g, wherein P1 has a value of at least 0.6 and no more than 1.8;
• (ii) the volume fraction of micropores (φa) is in the range from 0.5 to 0.85, based on the total volume of micropores and mesopores;
• (ii) the volume fraction of pores having a pore diameter no more than 10 nm (φ10) is at least 0.75, based on the total volume of micropores and mesopores;
• and
• (iii) the porous carbon framework has a D90 particle size of less than 30 μm;
• and
• (b) a plurality of nanoscale silicon domains located within the micropores and/or mesopores of the porous carbon framework,
• wherein the internal pore volume of the porous carbon framework (P1 cm3/g) is 43% to 83% v/v occupied by silicon;
• wherein the sum of the amount of silicon and carbon of the composite particles is at least 80 wt %;
• and
• wherein the total oxygen content of the composite particles is less than 10 wt %.

A particulate material comprising a plurality of composite particles, wherein the composite particles comprise:

• (a) a porous carbon framework comprising micropores and mesopores, wherein
• (i) the micropores and mesopores have a total pore volume as measured by gas adsorption of P1 cm3/g, wherein P1 has a value of at least 0.6 and no more than 1.2;
• (ii) the volume fraction of micropores (φa) is in the range from 0.55 to 0.8, based on the total volume of micropores and mesopores;
• (iii) the volume fraction of pores having a pore diameter no more than 10 nm (φ10) is at least 0.9, based on the total volume of micropores and mesopores;
• (iv) the porous carbon framework has a D50 particle size of less than 10 μm;
• and
• (b) a plurality of nanoscale silicon domains located within the micropores and/or mesopores of the porous carbon framework,
• wherein the weight ratio of silicon to the porous carbon framework in the composite particles is in the range from [1×P1 to 1.9×P1]:
• 1;
• and
• wherein the sum of silicon, carbon and oxygen is at least 90 wt %.