One‐Step Synthesis of Si–Graphene Heterostructures via in‐Flight Gas‐Phase Mixing for High‐Capacity Silicon‐Rich Anodes

The deliberate assembly of heterostructures has emerged as a powerful strategy for electrochemical energy storage, where integration of complementary components enables synergistic performance gains. Moving beyond serial production of individual components and their subsequent liquid‐phase assembly, we report a one‐step, continuous gas‐phase synthesis of high‐purity silicon/few‐layer graphene heterostructures by coupling microwave‐plasma and hot‐wall reactors. This in‐flight assembly yields exceptionally pure amorphous Si uniformly integrated within conductive few‐layer graphene, eliminating liquid‐phase processing. Electrochemical performance exhibits a non‐monotonic dependence of performance on few‐layer graphene content: capacity and cycle life maximize at an intermediate 15 wt.% few‐layer graphene, attributed to a percolated, strain‐buffering few‐layer graphene network that preserves electrical contact while minimizing inactive mass. The optimized heterostructure delivers specific capacities of ~2800 mAh g −1 Si+FLG (0.05 C) and ~1400 mAh g −1 Si+FLG after 100 cycles at 1 C, outperforming other Si/graphene systems reported in the literature under similar conditions. These results highlight gas‐phase self‐assembly as a scalable route to integrate 0D/2D nanostructures into high‐capacity, long‐life Li‐ion anodes and establish a new performance benchmark for low‐carbon‐fraction Si/graphene composites.

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Publication Details

Journal
Energy & environment materials
Published
2026-03-26
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/eem2.70333
Primary Topic
Advancements in Battery Materials
Type
article
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article

One‐Step Synthesis of Si–Graphene Heterostructures via in‐Flight Gas‐Phase Mixing for High‐Capacity Silicon‐Rich Anodes

Mukarram Ali, Hartmut Wiggers, Muhammad Ali, Yasaman Jarrahizadeh et al.
Energy & environment materials
Advancements in Battery Materials
article

One‐Step Synthesis of Si–Graphene Heterostructures via in‐Flight Gas‐Phase Mixing for High‐Capacity Silicon‐Rich Anodes

Mukarram Ali, Hartmut Wiggers, Muhammad Ali, Yasaman Jarrahizadeh, A. Lorke, Michael A. Pope
article en

Abstract

The deliberate assembly of heterostructures has emerged as a powerful strategy for electrochemical energy storage, where integration of complementary components enables synergistic performance gains. Moving beyond serial production of individual components and their subsequent liquid‐phase assembly, we report a one‐step, continuous gas‐phase synthesis of high‐purity silicon/few‐layer graphene heterostructures by coupling microwave‐plasma and hot‐wall reactors. This in‐flight assembly yields exceptionally pure amorphous Si uniformly integrated within conductive few‐layer graphene, eliminating liquid‐phase processing. Electrochemical performance exhibits a non‐monotonic dependence of performance on few‐layer graphene content: capacity and cycle life maximize at an intermediate 15 wt.% few‐layer graphene, attributed to a percolated, strain‐buffering few‐layer graphene network that preserves electrical contact while minimizing inactive mass. The optimized heterostructure delivers specific capacities of ~2800 mAh g −1 Si+FLG (0.05 C) and ~1400 mAh g −1 Si+FLG after 100 cycles at 1 C, outperforming other Si/graphene systems reported in the literature under similar conditions. These results highlight gas‐phase self‐assembly as a scalable route to integrate 0D/2D nanostructures into high‐capacity, long‐life Li‐ion anodes and establish a new performance benchmark for low‐carbon‐fraction Si/graphene composites.

Energy & environment materials
University of Waterloo (CA), University of Duisburg-Essen (DE)
Openalex Percentile: Top 5%
Advancements in Battery Materials
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One‐Step Synthesis of Si–Graphene Heterostructures via in‐Flight Gas‐Phase Mixing for High‐Capacity Silicon‐Rich Anodes — Mukarram Ali, Hartmut Wiggers, et al. · Energy & environment materials (2026) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS