Fluorocarbon carbonization of nanocrystalline silicon

A novel method to fabricate porous silicon–carbon nanocomposites has been suggested. The method uses carbon monofluoride reduction by silicon. The produced composite materials are formed by silicon nanoparticles confined into a carbon shell. The contacts of these particles provide current flowing across the formed carbon matrix. The dependences of density, porosity, and resistivity on the composition of Si–C composite pellets obtained by the suggested method have been determined. The studied materials are of interest for developing negative electrodes for lithium-ion batteries with high capacity.