Carbon encapsulation of silicon via lignosulfonate/chitosan electrostatic assembly and glucose-coating for enhanced lithium-ion battery anodes

Carbon encapsulation of silicon via lignosulfonate/chitosan electrostatic assembly and glucose-coating for enhanced lithium-ion battery anodes | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Carbon encapsulation of silicon via lignosulfonate/chitosan electrostatic assembly and glucose-coating for enhanced lithium-ion battery anodes Ling Wu, Yang Liu, Tingwei W. Zhang, Yongcan C. Jin, Huining Xiao This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7208324/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 21 Apr, 2026 Read the published version in Wood Science and Technology → Version 1 posted 12 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Silicon (Si) is regarded as one of the most prospective lithium-storage materials owing to its large theoretical specific capacity (4200 mAh/g) and low operating potential. However, during lithiation/delithiation processes, the tremendous volume change (~ 300%) and poor conductivity of Si materials restrict their large-scale application in the field of electrodes. Herein, a novel encapsulating strategy was proposed to prepare silicon/carbon composites (650-4-glu). The self-assembly process, driven by electrostatic interaction between lignosulfonate and chitosan, initially enwrapped silicon nanoparticles. Furthermore, glucose was introduced through simple grinding with the lignin-Si-chitosan assembly. After carbonization, physicochemical characterization revealed that the carbon framework derived from lignin-chitosan largely coated silicon and glucose-derived carbon served as a supplementary phase to enhance the encapsulation effect. The formation of Si-O-C linkages between carbon and silicon tightly bound the silicon particles, which was crucial for improving cycling stability and rate performance. Sample 650-4-glu exhibited an excellent specific capacity, retaining 734.3 mAh/g after 200 cycles at 0.5 A/g and 584.1 mAh/g after 500 cycles at 1.0 A/g. This work demonstrated a sustainable and effective approach for utilizing lignosulfonate, a byproduct in the papermaking industry, in high-performance lithium-ion battery electrodes. Self-assembly of lignosulfonate and chitosan glucose coating silicon/carbon anode lithium-ion batteries Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7 1. Introduction The requirements for high-performance lithium-ion batteries (LIB) have become increasingly stringent owing to the development of portable electronics and electric vehicles (Lin et al. 2017 ; Qiao et al. 2023 ). Existing anode materials, exemplified by graphite, are gradually struggling to meet the concurrent demands of high energy density and high power density (Shi et al. 2021 ). Silicon (Si), as a highly promising anode material, boasts a theoretical specific capacity as high as 4200 mAh/g (more than ten times that of graphite) and also exhibits a low delithiation potential, which can effectively enhance the output voltage of batteries (Jin et al. 2017 ). However, significant volume changes (approximately 300%) of Si during charging and discharging processes lead to pulverization of silicon particles, destruction of the electrode structure, and continuous rupture and reconstruction of the solid electrolyte interface (SEI) film, thereby causing rapid degradation of battery capacity and a sharp decline in cycling stability (Zhu et al. 2021 ). To address these issues, nanotechnology has been employed to reduce the particle size of silicon. This strategy not only effectively buffers the pressure caused by volume expansion but also shortens the diffusion distance of lithium ions (Li et al. 2016 ; Sung et al. 2021 ). Furthermore, mixing or compositing Si with carbon is regarded as a practical strategy to overcome problems related to the volume change of Si and the low capacity of graphite. The combination of these two materials leverages the high lithiation capacity of Si and the superior mechanical stability and electrical conductivity of carbon, effectively improving the comprehensive properties of Si/C composites (Choi et al. 2023 ; Dou et al. 2019 ; Feng et al. 2016 ). The design and fabrication of efficient Si / C anode materials constitute a core focus in contemporary electrochemical research. Crucially, identifying non-toxic, low-cost, and high-quality carbon precursors represents a critical determinant for reducing the cost of Si/C materials (Wu et al. 2024 ). A variety of Si/C composites have been fabricated using non-biomass-based carbon precursors. For instance, Han et al. (Han et al. 2021 ) synthesized Si-C/graphene composites through a three-step process: the encapsulation of Si nanoparticles via the self-polymerization of dopamine, the addition of graphene, and carbonization at 800 ℃. Hu et al. (Hu et al. 2019 ) prepared Si-C materials with a yolk-shell structure by using hydrofluoric acid to etch the SiO 2 template, with resorcinol-formaldehyde (RF) resin as the carbon precursor. Although the unique structures endowed these electrode materials with good performance, these methods face challenges of high raw material costs and complex preparation processes. Nanostructured carbon materials, such as graphene and carbon nanotube, dopamine, and RF, are costly carbon precursors, which are unfavorable for the large-scale production of Si/C composites. Meanwhile, the implementation of hazardous operations involving hydrofluoric acid and similar substances presents significant safety challenges, including high toxicity, substantial operational risks, and severe environmental pressures. Consequently, current research in finding low-cost carbon precursors and developing non-toxic and simple fabrication processes necessitates further deepening, aiming to balance electrode performance and industrial production requirements. Renewable biomass and its derivatives, including lignin in different forms, are extensively employed as green carbon precursors in the synthesis of carbonaceous electrodes for lithium-ion batteries (Huang et al. 2023 ; Liu et al. 2015 ). Lignin, the second most prevalent biomass resource in nature, is a macromolecular polymer featuring high carbon content (40%~60%), a complex three-dimensional network, and an abundance of oxygen-containing functional groups and aromatic structures (Ghimbeu et al. 2019 ; Peuvot et al. 2019 ). These characteristics endow the carbonized product of lignin with high mass yield and high mechanical strength. Moreover, structurally diversified lignin-derived carbons, such as porous carbon, spherical carbon, and lamellar carbon, can be synthesized by tuning pore structure via suitable methods. The Si-C materials prepared by carbonizing Si/lignin composites demonstrate multifaceted advantages when applied as anodes in lithium-ion batteries. Mechanistically, the lignin-derived carbon component, which is characterized by high electrical conductivity, ameliorates the intrinsic poor electron transport of silicon and establishes an efficient electron conduction network within the Si-C (Li et al. 2019 ). This synergistic effect significantly enhances the charge-discharge efficiency of the battery. Concurrently, the robust carbon framework mitigates the substantial volume expansion/contraction of silicon during lithiation/delithiation processes, suppressing particle pulverization and agglomeration (Kim et al. 2024 ; Wang et al. 2025 ). Consequently, the structural integrity of the composite is preserved, leading to exceptional cycling stability. Liu et al. (Liu et al. 2020 ) first employed cetyltrimethylammonium bromide to endow silicon particles with a positive charge, thereby enabling the efficient immobilization of silicon particles within the composite material via electrostatic interactions with lignin. The initial charge capacity of the carbonized composite was 1016.8 mAh/g at a current density of 0.2 A/g after 100 cycles. Li et al. (Li et al. 2023b ) coated silicon nanoparticles with lignin-based phenolic resin, which formed a protective carbon layer after high-temperature calcination. Compared with pure phenolic resin-coated silicon (Si/C-PR), the lignin-based phenolic resin-coated Si nanoparticles (Si/C-LPR) exhibited significantly improved cycling performance. Si/C-LPR showed an initial specific capacity of 782.5 mAh/g, and the specific capacity remained at 605.4 mAh/g after 100 cycles at a current density of 0.5 A/g. Although notable progress has been made in the construction and application of Si/lignin-based carbon electrode materials, the development of simpler, more efficient, and cost-effective preparation techniques remains imperative. This entails exploring advanced assembly processes for lignin and silicon particles, effective surface modification strategies, and suitable carbonization methods (dos Reis et al. 2023 ; Huang et al. 2023 ). In this study, a low-cost, environmentally friendly, and scalable synthesis route was designed (Scheme 1 ), with lignosulfonate serving as the primary carbon precursor and chitosan and glucose acting as auxiliary carbon sources. By harnessing the electrostatic interaction between lignosulfonate (sulfonate groups with negative charges) and chitosan (protonated amino groups with positive charges), Si nanoparticles were entrapped during the flocculation process of lignin and chitosan. Considering the lignin-Si-chitosan flocs might not fully encapsulate silicon nanoparticles, glucose was supplemented to the freeze-dried flocs by a simple grinding treatment. The characteristics of rich hydroxyl groups and low molecular weight endow carbohydrates such as glucose with high structural plasticity during the carbonization process. Therefore, glucose was considered a suitable supplement to the flocs. The final Si/C electrode materials (the optimized one was denoted as 650-4-glu) were obtained after carbonizing the lignosulfonate-Si-chitosan flocs/glucose mixture at 650 ℃. This binary-carbon structure may improve the mechanical robustness and stability of electrodes by forming more Si-O-C bonds and reducing direct contact between inner silicon and the electrolyte. When 650-4-glu was used as the anode in LIBs, it presented a favorable reversible capacity of 734.3 mAh/g at a high current density of 0.5 A/g after 200 cycles. In this study, the utilization of industrial-grade lignosulfonate highlights a highly potential approach for the high-value application of lignin. 2. Materials and methods 2.1. Materials Lignosulfonate (industrial grade) was obtained from Ingevity Specialty Chemicals (USA). Acetic acid (AR, 99.5%) was purchased from Shanghai Sinopharm Chemical Reagent Co., Ltd (Shanghai, China). Silicon nanoparticles (~ 50 nm), Chitosan (degree of deacetylation greater than 95%) and glucose (AR) were purchased from Aladdin Biochemical Technology Co., Ltd (Shanghai, China). Carboxymethyl cellulose sodium (CMC) and carbon black (CB) were purchased from Canrd Group (Dongwan, China). All the reagents were directly used without any purification. 2.2. Synthesis Scheme 1 outlines the preparation process of 650-4-glu. The synthesis commenced with dissolving 1.0 g of lignosulfonate in 100 mL of deionized water. Subsequently, 0.4 g of silicon nanoparticles were added into the solution, followed by 30 mins of ultrasonic treatment at room temperature to yield a mixed solution (labeled as solution A). Concurrently, 400 mL of a 1.0 g/L chitosan-acetic acid aqueous solution was prepared (labeled as solution B). The flocculates were then formed by quickly pouring solution B into solution A. After vigorous stirring for 10 mins, the sample was allowed to stand for a period to enable the flocculates to settle. The flocculates were collected by centrifugation, repeatedly washed with water, and freeze-dried. Furthermore, the dried lignin-Si-chitosan composite was mixed and ground with 40 wt.% glucose relevant to the weight of the composite. The mixture of lignosulfonate-Si-chitosan flocculates and glucose was calcined at 650°C for 1.0 h under a nitrogen atmosphere. The carbonized product was washed with dilute hydrochloric acid and water and oven-dried. By increasing the mass of silicon nanoparticles from 0.4 g to 0.8 g, sample 650-8-glu was prepared. Control samples of 650-4 and 650-8 were synthesized by direct carbonization of the freeze-dried lignin-Si-chitosan flocculates without glucose addition. 2.3. Characterization Morphological characterization of the samples was performed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM, Regulus 8100, Hitachi, Japan), transmission electron microscopy (TEM, JEM-1400, JEOL, Japan), and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM, JEM-2100, JEOL, Japan), respectively. The pore parameters of the samples were evaluated via N₂ adsorption-desorption measurements using a TriStar II 3Flex adsorption analyzer (Micromeritics, USA). Raman spectra of the samples were recorded on a DXR532 Raman spectrometer (Thermo Fisher, USA) with a 532 nm argon ion laser excitation source. Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR) of the samples were recorded using a VERTEX 80V spectrometer (Bruker, Germany). X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of the samples were obtained on an Ultima IV diffractometer (Rigaku, Japan). Thermogravimetric analysis (TG) of the samples was conducted on a TG209 analyzer (Netzsch, Germany) to determine the content of Si. The chemical states of surface elements (C, O, and Si) were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) using an AXIS UltraDLD spectrometer (Shimadzu, UK). 2.4. Electrochemical measurements The as-prepared samples were used as active materials and blended with CMCC (sodium carboxymethylcellulose) and Super P (carbon black) at a mass ratio of 8:1:1. The mixture was then dispersed in diluted water and continuously stirred for 12 hours. The resulting slurry was uniformly spread onto copper foil, followed by preliminary drying under infrared heating. The coated copper foil was then cut into electrode plates and further dried in a vacuum oven for 12 hours. The assembly of half-cells (CR2032 type) was conducted in an argon-filled glove box. The prepared electrode plates served as working electrodes, while lithium foils were employed as counter electrodes. The electrolyte was a 1 M LiPF 6 solution in a 1:1:1 (v/v) mixture of EMC (ethyl methyl carbonate), EC (ethylene carbonate), and DMC (dimethyl carbonate), containing 10% FEC (fluoroethylene carbonate). The charge-discharge performance of the assembled half-cells was tested on a LAND CT2001A battery tester. Specifically, the tests were carried out within a voltage range of 0.01 ~ 1.5 V (vs. Li + /Li) at a constant current density of 0.5 A/g. Cyclic voltammetry experiments were conducted on a CS2350M electrochemical workstation (Corrtest, China) within the same voltage window, with a scan rate of 0.1 mV/s. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) analyses were performed over a frequency range from 0.01 Hz to 100 kHz, using an alternating current perturbation amplitude of 5 mV. 3. Results and discussion 3.1. Characterization of as-prepared electrode materials Fig. S1 a1-a2 show the SEM images of pristine silicon nanoparticles. Numerous silicon nanospheres are aggregated, with diameters ranging from tens to hundreds of nanometers. Fig. S1 b1-b2 depict the SEM images of sample 650-4. The incorporation of lignin and chitosan significantly increases the size of the aggregates, with fewer silicon spheres exhibiting distinct single-particle morphology. This phenomenon may imply that most silicon nanospheres are effectively encapsulated by the carbon layer. In Fig. S1 c1-c2 , corresponding to sample 650-4-glu, the aggregates appear even more uniform and continuous, indicating the confinement of the carbon layer on the silicon particles is further enhanced. This improvement is attributed to the presence of glucose-derived carbon, which fills voids of aggregates observed in 650-4, leading to enhanced encapsulation and improved mechanical integrity. Due to the higher silicon content in samples 650-8 and 650-8-glu, more distinct silicon spheres are observed in the high-magnification SEM images ( Fig. S1 d2 and e2 ), demonstrating that the increase in silicon content leads to the weakened encapsulation effect. To characterize the detailed interfacial structure between silicon and carbon, HRTEM images of sample 650-4-glu were taken and presented in Fig. 1 . The low-magnification image (Fig. 1 a) reveals a continuous structure composed of carbon coating and Si nanospheres with minimal exposure of single Si nanoparticle and pure irregular carbonaceous structure, indicating the successful formation of uniform carbon layer on the silicon surface. At higher magnification (Fig. 1 b), distinct lattice fringes with an average interplanar spacing of 0.28 nm are observed. According to Bragg's law (Dubach & Guskov, 2020 ), this distance corresponds to the (100) crystal plane of silicon, while the surrounding amorphous regions are identified as carbon matrix. Element mappings of sample 650-4-glu (Fig. 1 c) were recorded using an energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS) attached to the HRTEM. The images further confirm the silicon-embedded structure. The elemental distributions of carbon and silicon show substantial overlap, with carbon exhibiting a slightly broader spatial coverage. Notably, nitrogen displays a distribution closely aligned with that of carbon in both extent and intensity, while oxygen is primarily associated with silicon. These results collectively verify the effective encapsulation of silicon nanoparticles within carbon matrix, enabled by the synergistic interactions among lignosulfonate, chitosan, and glucose during synthesis. The porous structure and related parameters of the synthesized samples were investigated via N 2 adsorption-desorption measurements. As shown in Fig. S2a , the isotherm of pure Si exhibits a typical Type II profile, indicating a non-porous nature. In contrast, the isotherms of samples 650-4 and 650-4-glu correspond to Type IV with elongated H4 hysteresis loops in the intermediate relative pressure range, suggesting the presence of both micropores and mesopores, likely narrow slit-shaped mesopores (Deng et al. 2020 ). The pore size distribution plots were presented in Fig. S2b , the pore size distributions of all samples are relatively concentrated. 650-4 and 650-4-glu possess more micropores and small-mesopores than that of pure Si particles. As summarized in Table S1 , the specific surface area (SSA) of silicon particles is 50.5 m 2 /g, while Si-C composites (650-4 and 650-4-glu) show significantly higher SSAs of 207.0 and 233.1 m 2 /g, respectively. Similarly, the total pore volume increases from 0.12 cm 3 /g for pure silicon to 0.32 cm 3 /g for sample 650-4 and 0.28 cm 3 /g for sample 650-4-glu. These increases are attributed to the introduction of porous carbon derived from lignosulfonate and chitosan. Importantly, the SSAs of all the samples remain moderate, which helps minimize the occurrence of interfacial side reactions during charging and discharging cycles (Li et al. 2023a ). Additionally, an appropriate amount of pores is beneficial for the storage and transportation of lithium ions (Li et al. 2024a ). The pore network increases the electrode-electrolyte contact interface, enabling the establishment of interconnected pathways that accelerate lithium ion migration and reduce diffusion resistance (Lian et al. 2024 ). Figure 2 a presents the TG curves of the samples. The silicon contents in samples 650-4, 650-4-glu, 650-8, and 650-8-glu were calculated to be 52.7%, 50.4%, 69.3%, and 62.4%, respectively. Raman spectra were employed to assess the structural disorder and graphitic characteristics of the samples. In Fig. 2 b, the peak at 500 cm − 1 corresponds to the first-order Raman scattering of silicon, while the peaks at 280 cm − 1 and 950 cm − 1 are attributed to the second-order Raman scattering of silicon (Tsybeskov et al. 2016 ). Comparative analysis reveals that samples 650-4 and 650-8 (without a secondary glucose-derived carbon coating) exhibit higher-intensity Raman characteristic peaks attributed to silicon. This can be ascribed to the melt-flow behavior of glucose during high-temperature carbonization, which facilitates more effective encapsulation of silicon nanoparticles, thereby attenuating the silicon Raman signals in 650-4-glu and 650-8-glu. Additionally, prominent D (~ 1350 cm − 1 ) and G (~ 1585 cm − 1 ) bands corresponding to disordered and graphitized carbon structures respectively are observed [30]. The D band is generally associated with impurities, defects, and pores in the carbon matrix, whereas the G band reflects the degree of graphitization. Among the samples, sample 650-8 displays the weakest D and G peak intensities, consistent with its lower carbon content. The I D /I G ratios for samples 650-4, 650-4-glu, and 650-8-glu are 0.96, 0.94, and 0.91, respectively. All values being less than 1 suggest a higher proportion of graphitic domains in the carbon coatings, which is beneficial for improving electrical conductivity (Ma et al. 2022 ; Zhai et al. 2022 ). Figure 2 c presents the XRD patterns of the samples. All the samples display characteristic diffraction peaks of silicon at 28°, 48°, 57°, 69°, 76°, and 88°, corresponding to the (111), (220), (311), (400), and (422) crystal planes of silicon (Han et al. 2021 ), respectively. The absence of other impurity peaks indicates that the silicon particles exhibit high purity and suggests that the experimental procedures used in this study did not damage the crystalline structure of the silicon particles. Notably, sample 650-4-glu shows a more distinct weak and broad peak at 2θ = 26°, corresponding to the (002) crystal plane of amorphous carbon (Sun et al. 2019 ), implying that introducing glucose-derived carbon increases the carbon content on the surface of 650-4-glu. This increase in surface carbon content might promote the encapsulation of silicon. Figure 2 d depicts the FTIR spectra of the samples. The broad absorption band around 3400 cm − 1 primarily corresponds to the stretching vibration peaks of O-H groups (Zhang et al. 2022 ). The pure silicon sample exhibits the strongest O-H stretching vibration, which can be ascribed to the presence of a surface SiO x layer. Additionally, the band at 810 cm − 1 represents the symmetric stretching vibration of Si-O-Si, while the broad band ranging from 850 to 1250 cm − 1 is attributed to the asymmetric stretching modes of Si-O-Si (Chen et al. 2021 ; Li et al. 2022 ). The presence of a native oxide layer surrounding silicon nanoparticles is typical and expected. The Si/C samples exhibit signal characteristics distinct from pure silicon in the region of 1100–1250 cm − 1 . A new peak near 1125 cm − 1 representing Si-O-C bonds is observed (Li et al. 2022 ). The formation of Si-O-C bonds indicates that silicon nanoparticles and the carbon matrix were bonded via oxygen bridges. Such bonding is beneficial for improving structural stability, enhancing electrical conductivity, suppressing side reactions, and facilitating lithium-ion diffusion. The chemical states of surface elements of the samples were analyzed based on their XPS spectra. Figure 3a1 -a4 shows the XPS survey spectra of the samples, which confirms that the primary elements in the Si/C composite samples are C, O, and Si. Among them, sample 650-8 displays the weakest carbon peak intensity, indicating the lowest surface carbon content, which may negatively influence the silicon-carbon coating efficiency. The high-resolution C 1s spectra ( Fig. 3b1-b4 ) can be primarily deconvoluted into three peaks at 284.7 eV (asymmetric sp2 carbon), 285.5 eV (symmetric sp3 carbon), and 288.0 eV (C = O) (Xue et al. 2024 ). All samples possess a high concentration of sp2 hybridized carbon atoms. The fitted peaks in O 1s spectra ( Fig. 3c1-c4 ), appearing at 530.9, 532.3, and 533.2 eV, are assigned to C = O, C-O, and Si-O, respectively (Chen et al. 2021 ). For all samples, O atoms are mainly existed in the form of Si-O bonds. The fitted peaks of Si 2p spectra ( Fig. 3d1-d4 ) exhibit two distinct components corresponding to elemental Si and SiOx (Chen et al. 2021 ; Lee & Park, 2019 ). Compared to sample 650-4, the Si 0 signal intensity in 650-4-glu decreases significantly, suggesting that the introduction of glucose-derived carbon improved the encapsulation of silicon nanoparticles and facilitated the conversion of Si 0 to oxidized Si species. Additionally, the comparatively higher proportion of Si 4+ species in samples 650-4 and 650-4-glu compared to 650-8 and 650-8-glu indicates that the relatively abundant carbon precursor in these samples enhanced the oxidation of silicon nanoparticles during carbonization, possibly through the formation of Si-O-C linkages between carbon and silicon. Samples 650-8 and 650-8-glu display stronger overall Si signals, which is consistent with their higher silicon content. The presence of uncoated silicon nanoparticles in these samples should contribute to the enhanced signals. 3.2. Electrochemical properties Figure 4 a-c and Fig. S3 present the cyclic voltammetry (CV) curves of the samples recorded at a scanning rate of 0.1 mV/s. The occurrence of the broad peak at 0.88 V in the initial discharge stage can be attributed to electrolyte decomposition and the generation of a solid electrolyte interface (SEI) on the electrode surface (Yao et al. 2022 ). A pronounced reduction peak near 0.2 V is observed, corresponding to the insertion of lithium ions into silicon particles and the formation of amorphous lithium-silicon compounds (Li x Si) through alloying reactions (Huang et al. 2018 ), which represent the primary lithium storage mechanism of silicon. Two distinct oxidation peaks appear at appropriately 0.36 V and 0.51 V, associated with the dealloying (delithiation) of Li x Si (Li et al. 2024b ). Notably, the absolute current values of both the oxidation and reduction peaks increase gradually with the number of scanning cycles, indicating a progressive enhancement in the reaction kinetics of the anode material. This behavior is attributed to the gradual activation of the electrode material, the formation of efficient ion transport pathways, and the increasing participation of internal silicon in the alloying/dealloying reactions. A comparison of the CV curves for samples 650-4 and 650-4-glu reveals that 650-4-glu exhibits more intense redox peaks, suggesting faster electrochemical kinetics. This improvement is likely due to the formation of additional Si-O-C bonds between the silicon particles and carbon matrix after introducing glucose-derived carbon, which promotes lithium ion transport. In the case of 650-8-glu, the great variation in redox peak intensity across cycles implies that a higher silicon content might prolong the activation process. Figure 4 d-f and Fig. S4 display the charge-discharge capacity-voltage curves of the samples at selected cycles. The first and second cycles of the samples were conducted at a low current density of 0.2 A/g to activate the electrodes, after which the charge-discharge performance was evaluated at 0.5 A/g. The first-cycle discharge specific capacity of sample 650-4 is 1286.3 mAh/g, whereas samples 650-4-glu, 650-8 and 650-8-glu exhibit higher values of 1682.1, 1930.2 and 1,993.9 mAh/g, respectively. A comparison of the charge-discharge voltage profiles at the 20th and 50th cycles reveals that: electrodes 650-4 and 650-4-glu were still in the activation stage within 50 cycles (manifested by the gradual increase in performance with each cycle), whereas the performance of electrodes 650-8 and 650-8-glu started to decay. Figure 4 g illustrates the long-term cycling performance of the samples at a current density of 0.5 A/g. To fully activate the lithium storage capacity of the materials, the first two cycles were conducted at a lower current density of 0.2 A/g. For all samples, the specific charge-discharge capacities gradually decrease after the initial activation and then stabilize. This behavior is primarily attributed to irreversible capacity loss caused by the formation of the solid electrolyte interface (SEI) layer and other irreversible alloying reactions during the early cycles (Chae et al. 2020 ). In the subsequent cycles, the structure and properties of the SEI layer became more stable, and efficient ion transport pathways were gradually established. The pure silicon electrode exhibits a drastic decline in capacity, ultimately dropping to 0 mAh/g after 105 cycles. This dramatic failure results from the severe volume expansion and contraction of silicon during cycling, which leads to structural collapse, detachment from the current collector, and complete loss of electrochemical activity. After 200 cycles, the discharge specific capacities of the samples are as follows: 650-4 (662.7 mAh/g), 650-4-glu (734.3 mAh/g), 650-8 (396.8 mAh/g), and 650-8-glu (728.6 mAh/g). Compared with pure silicon, the silicon nanoparticles coated with lignin-chitosan-derived carbon exhibit significantly improved cycling stability. Furthermore, the introduction of a secondary glucose-derived carbon coating further enhanced the charge-discharge capacity. These results clearly demonstrate that the dual-layer carbon coating strategy is highly effective in improving both the cycling stability and electrochemical performance of silicon-carbon composite materials. In the charge-discharge performance test at a high current density of 1.0 A/g (Fig. 4 h), where the first two cycles were conducted at a lower current density of 0.1 A/g, sample 650-4-glu maintains the highest discharge specific capacity (584.1 mAh/g) after 500 cycles, whereas sample 650-8 exhibits the poorest performance. This inferior performance is attributed to the incomplete encapsulation of silicon particles by the carbon layer, resulting in unprotected silicon agglomerating and shrinking during carbonization. These structurally vulnerable silicon particles are more susceptible to damage during repeated charge-discharge cycling, leading to severe capacity degradation. Figure 4 i presents the rate performance test results at current densities of 0.1 A/g, 0.2 A/g, 0.5 A/g, 1.0 A/g, and back to 0.1 A/g. The corresponding discharge specific capacities of sample 650-4 at each stage are 1486.7 mAh/g, 1341.7 mAh/g, 1063.5 mAh/g, 835.1 mAh/g, and 1298 mAh/g, respectively. For sample 650-4-glu, the values are 1554.6 mAh/g, 1394 mAh/g, 1217.2 mAh/g, 1096.7 mAh/g, and 1542.5 mAh/g. Sample 650-8-glu shows capacities of 1879.8 mAh/g, 1657.2 mAh/g, 1354.2 mAh/g, 970.3 mAh/g, and 1567.5 mAh/g across different current density stages, which are also higher than those of 650-8. Overall, sample 650-4-glu exhibits the most outstanding rate performance, characterized by minimal differences in specific capacity across different current densities and minimal fluctuations in specific capacity across different cycles at the same current density. Notably, when the current density returns to 0.1 A/g, its specific capacity remains as high as 1542.5 mAh/g. It is worth mentioning that the SEI film tends to deteriorate under varying current densities, leading to irreversible capacity loss (Yi et al. 2013 ). These results demonstrate that sample 650-4-glu possesses a stable and robust carbon coating structure, which significantly mitigates the volume expansion of silicon and enhances the cycling stability of the electrode material. As summarized in Table 1 , the 650-4-glu electrode exhibits comparable cyclic performance to recently reported Si/C composite electrodes. Additionally, the preparation method of 650-4-glu electrode is novel and straightforward, featuring a relatively low calcination temperature. Overall, industrial lignosulfonate can be utilized to construct a carbon matrix that encapsulates silicon particles, effectively buffering volume changes of silicon particles and enabling the electrode to achieve excellent lithium storage performance and cycling stability. To investigate the electrochemical kinetics of the fabricated electrode materials, a series of CV measurements were conducted at varying scan rates of 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5 mV/s. As shown in Fig. S5 , the CV curves of the corresponding samples at different scan rates reveal that the redox peak intensities increase progressively with increasing scan rate. Compared with samples 650-4 and 650-8, samples 650-4-glu and 650-8-glu exhibit larger peak currents (in absolute values), indicating that the introduction of glucose-derived carbon enhances the electrochemical activity of the electrode materials. The relationship between the peak current i (mA) and the scan rate (mV/s) follows Eq. 1 (Zhang et al. 2019 ). $$\:i=\text{a}{}^{b}$$ 1 where, a and b represent fitting parameters. The b-value is derived through curve fitting to characterize the electrochemical kinetics of lithium ion storage. The fitting results were displayed in Fig. 5 b. The b-values are close to 1, indicating that the electrochemical behavior of 650-4-glu is predominantly governed by capacitive-controlled processes (Lu et al. 2022 ), and the b-values can is relevant to its distinct physical microstructures and surface chemical moieties (Li et al. 2023a ). The lithium storage capacity of 650-4-glu mainly originates from the alloying reactions between silicon and lithium. Due to the nanoscale size of the silicon particles, the lithium-ion diffusion path is significantly shortened, thereby increasing the contribution from surface reactions. Additionally, the carbon matrix with moderate surface area provides active sites for ion adsorption on the surface, further enhancing the proportion of capacitively controlled lithium storage behavior. Additionally, the contributions of capacitance-controlled and diffusion-controlled storage were calculated according to Eq. 2 (Yang & Rogach, 2019 ). $$\:i={k}_{1}+{k}_{2}{v}^{1/2}$$ 2 where I (mA) represents the peak current, v (mV/s) denotes the scan rate, k₁ signifies the capacitive contribution, and k₂ corresponds to the diffusion-controlled contribution. As the scan rate increases from 0.1 mV/s to 0.5 mV/s, the proportion of capacitive-controlled capacity for sample 650-4 rises from 65.4–80.8% ( Fig. S6a ), while that of 650-4-glu increases from 51.3–70.2% (Fig. 5 c). For sample 650-8, the contribution increases from 65.6–81.0% ( Fig. S6b ), and for 650-8-glu, it rises from 86.9–93.7% ( Fig. S6c ). These results suggest that a higher silicon nanoparticles content is correlated with a greater contribution of capacitive-controlled lithium storage. For sample 650-4-glu, the incorporation of glucose-derived carbon leads to a densification of the carbon framework and a reduction in specific surface area, thereby significantly increasing the diffusion-controlled contribution compared to 650-4. In contrast, for sample 650-8-glu, the glucose-derived carbon improves its encapsulation of silicon and provides more interfacial reaction sites, resulting in a greater capacitive-controlled contribution relative to 650-8. Mechanistically, the contrasting degrees of carbon coating in 650-4-glu and 650-8-glu are responsible for their distinct electrochemical behaviors. The high capacitive-dominated lithium storage performance of all samples can be attributed to their well-engineered silicon-carbon core-shell structure and the formation of a conductive carbon network, which together facilitate efficient charge transport and mitigate volume expansion. As a result, 650-4-glu achieves an optimal balance between electrochemical kinetics and structural stability, contributing to its superior lithium storage performance. Table 1 Comparison of cycling performance with other Si/C composites in the previous studies. Materials Si content (%) Carbonization procedure Specific capacity (mAh/g) Current density (mAh/g) Cycles Ref. Si-CNT@PC pitch 85 900 ℃ for 3 h 715 1.0 400 (Park et al. 2020 ) Si@C aniline 55 750 ℃ for 2 h 990 0.2 100 (Li et al. 2020 ) PANI-Si@CNTs carbon nanotubes 63 900 ℃ for 2 h 727 0.1 100 (Zhou et al. 2018 ) CNFs/Si@C polyacrylonitrile / 800 ℃ for 1 h 754 0.1 100 (Liu et al. 2019 ) Si-LAC20 alkali lignin 33 800 ℃ for 1 h 574 0.1 200 (Liu et al. 2024 ) Si/C polyacrylonitrile / 800 ℃ for 5 h 640 0.5 100 (Chen et al. 2024 ) 650-4-glu lignosulfonate 50 650 ℃ for 1 h 734 0.5 200 This work To further investigate the kinetics of the Si/C composite electrodes, the charge transfer resistance (R ct ) of different electrode samples (freshly prepared and post cycled) was measured using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Fig. S7 shows the EIS spectra of the freshly prepared electrodes, while Fig. 5 d displays the EIS spectra of the same electrodes after 200 cycles at a current density of 0.5 A/g. The EIS spectra typically feature two semicircles in the high-frequency and medium-frequency regions and a straight line in the low-frequency region. The semicircle in the high-frequency region is associated with the impedance of lithium ions entering the SEI film (R s ), the semicircle in the medium-frequency region corresponds to the charge transfer resistance (R ct ), and the straight line in the low-frequency region is related to the diffusion process of lithium ions within the solid phase (Warburg impedance, Z w ) (Bi et al. 2016 ). The R ct values of all electrodes before and after cycling were fitted using an equivalent circuit ( Fig. S8 ), and the results were summarized in Table S2 . It is found that the R ct values of all electrodes decreases significantly after 200 cycles. Among them, sample 650-4-glu exhibits the lowest R ct value of 72.45 Ω, indicating improved charge transfer kinetics. However, with increasing of silicon content, the R ct value tend to increase. This can be attributed to the incomplete carbon coating, which results in reduced electrical conductivity and consequently higher charge transfer resistance. To further investigate the lithium-ion transport behavior in the prepared electrodes, galvanostatic intermittent titration technique (GITT) measurements were conducted. The testing protocol involved charging and discharging at a current density of 0.1 A/g for 30 minutes, with a 120-minute rest interval after each operation. The lithium-ion diffusion coefficient of the electrodes was calculated using the following equation (Wu et al. 2024 ): $$\:{D}_{{Li}^{+}}=\frac{4}{\pi\:\tau\:}\:{\left(\frac{{m}_{B\:}{V}_{M}}{{M}_{B}S}\right)}^{2}{\left(\frac{{\varDelta\:E}_{s}}{{\varDelta\:E}_{\tau\:}}\right)}^{2}$$ 3 where τ (s) denotes the relaxation time, m B (g) represents the mass of the active material, V M (cm 3 /mol) and M B (g/mol) signify the molar volume and molar mass of the active material, respectively, S (cm 2 ) indicates the contact area between the prepared materials and the electrolyte, and ∆E s (V) and ∆E τ (V) represent the voltage differences. Figure 6 a displays the GITT curves of each electrode material, from which the lg(D Li+ ) values during the lithium insertion and extraction processes were analyzed and calculated. Figure 6 b presents the corresponding lg(D Li+ ) values at different voltages during lithium storage. The lg(D Li+ ) values sharply decreases to the minimum near 0.1 V, and this trough region is associated with the alloying reaction between lithium ions and silicon. Similarly, Fig. 6 c shows the lg(D Li+ ) values corresponding to different voltages during lithium extraction, where the lg(D Li+ ) values sharply decrease to the minimum near 0.5 V, and this trough region is related to the dealloying reaction of Li x Si species. These observations are consistent with the results obtained from CV analysis. During lithium insertion, the average lg(D Li+ ) values for sample 650-4, 650-4-glu, 650-8, 650-8-glu are − 10.67, -10.51, -10.60, and − 10.61, respectively, indicating minimal variation in lithium-ion diffusion coefficients across the samples. These values reflect the combined influence of particle size, reaction kinetics, and lithium-ion transport pathways within the electrode materials. To evaluate the effect of glucose-derived carbon on the electrode structure, cross-sectional SEM images were captured for both fresh and post-cycled 650-4 and 650-4-glu. Figure 7a1 and b1 show the cross-sections of freshly prepared 650-4 and 650-4-glu electrode sheets, while Fig. 7a2 and b2 depict their counterparts after 1000 cycles at 1.0 A/g. After 1000 cycles, the thickness of the 650-4 electrode changes from 14.92 µm to 108.04 µm, while the thickness of 650-4-glu electrode changes from 30.17 µm to 86.51 µm. As a result, 650-4 electrode exhibits a larger volume expansion ratio. Fig. S9 presents the top-view SEM images of fresh and post-cycled (1000 cycles at 1.0 A/g) 650-4 and 650-4-glu. The surface of cycled 650-4 ( Fig. S9 a2 ) displays distinct cracks, whereas that of the cycled 650-4-glu (( Fig. S9 b2 ) remains relatively smooth, featuring only negligible pores. Based on the above analysis, the incorporation of glucose-derived carbon significantly enhances the structural integrity of 650-4-glu. This improvement is likely due to the abundant hydroxyl groups of glucose and its high structure plasticity during carbonization, which facilitate the formation of Si-O-C bonds with silicon, leading to a robust silicon-carbon coating structure. In summary, the introduced glucose-derived carbon likely serves as a binding agent between silicon particles and lignosulfonate-chitosan-derived carbon, thereby enhancing the structural stability of silicon-carbon electrodes and improving their cycling stability. 4. Conclusions In summary, novel silicon/carbon composites were fabricated by carbonizing lignin-Si-chitosan flocs/glucose mixture. The binary carbon matrix, derived from lignosulfonate-chitosan flocs and glucose, synergistically encapsulated silicon nanoparticles. The lignosulfonate-chitosan-based carbon served as the primary coating matrix, while the glucose-derived carbon played a supplementary role. The formation of Si-O-C bonds enhanced interfacial cohesion between silicon and carbon, thereby improving the structural integrity of the composite. Furthermore, the unique coating approach, which leveraged electrostatic interactions between chitosan and lignin, contributed to a moderate surface area that benefited Li + diffusion. Among the prepared samples, 650-4-glu, featuring a relatively higher carbon content, exhibited superior encapsulation of silicon and enhanced interfacial bonding. This structural optimization contributed to excellent lithium storage capacity, cycling stability, and rate performance, delivering a reversible capacity of 734.3 mAh/g after 200 cycles at a current density of 0.5 A/g. This work offers a creative insight for developing high-performance, biomass-derived Si-C composite electrodes for lithium-ion storage. Future work may focus on further tuning the carbon structure and composition to optimize electrochemical performance for practical lithium-ion battery applications. Declarations Acknowledgements This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52106250, 32271811), and the National Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20220431). Author contributions Ling Wu: Writing-review & editing, Writing-original draft, Software, Methodology, Investigation, Formal analysis, Data curation, Conceptualization. Yang Liu: Validation, Supervision. Tingwei Zhang: Supervision, Methodology, Conceptualization. Yongcan Jin: Writing–review & editing, Supervision, Funding acquisition, Conceptualization. Huining Xiao: Validation, Supervision. All authors reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript. Data availability No datasets were generated or analysed during the current study. 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ACS Nano 15(10):15567–15593. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.1c05898 Schemes Scheme 1 is available in the Supplementary Files section Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files Supportinginformtion.docx image1.png Scheme 1. A schematic illustration for the preparation of 650-4-glu. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7208324","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":507403435,"identity":"6c8f018d-6e41-4255-8f04-a9a3fd7d9b22","order_by":0,"name":"Ling Wu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Nanjing Forestry University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ling","middleName":"","lastName":"Wu","suffix":""},{"id":507403436,"identity":"cd5f33b6-3a2d-4c91-85fa-f4e012a77941","order_by":1,"name":"Yang Liu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Nanjing Forestry University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yang","middleName":"","lastName":"Liu","suffix":""},{"id":507403437,"identity":"45799998-8310-4718-a3b5-107dcddb1d69","order_by":2,"name":"Tingwei W. Zhang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Nanjing Forestry University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Tingwei","middleName":"W.","lastName":"Zhang","suffix":""},{"id":507403438,"identity":"87d31f47-4587-4f52-9fd2-ff2a3b9c3b87","order_by":3,"name":"Yongcan C. Jin","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA7klEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACxmY4k/kAg4QNiJFAtBa2BAaJNCK0IAEeAwYGYrQwt/Mek/i4o1aef3bPtwcWCYcZ+NlzDBh+7sDnML40yZlnjhvOuHN2u4EEUItkzxsDxt4z+LTwmEnzth1LYLiRu01C8sdhBoMbOQbMjG1EaJG/kfNMAmSLPZFaahKAhrOBtRhIENZibDmz7YDhxhtpZkAt6TwSZ54VHOzFo8Ww/4zhjY9tdfJyN5KfSUskWMvxtydvfPATn5YGBhYJBobDYA4zkMUDYhzArYGBQR6o8AMDQx3ElR/wKR0Fo2AUjIIRCwCc8Ez61AQ9JwAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Nanjing Forestry University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yongcan","middleName":"C.","lastName":"Jin","suffix":""},{"id":507403439,"identity":"c23e0d5b-1b63-4505-8483-2826e0f358e4","order_by":4,"name":"Huining Xiao","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of New Brunswick","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Huining","middleName":"","lastName":"Xiao","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-07-24 19:23:09","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7208324/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7208324/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00226-026-01775-6","type":"published","date":"2026-04-21T15:58:24+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":90837294,"identity":"6b270414-7fa9-4ab6-ae4f-9bcfa9efbded","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-08 18:06:33","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":577497,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eThe HRTEM images (a and b) and EDS mapping of C, Si, O, N for 650-4-glu (c)\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"image2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7208324/v1/4cc2655216236b78ecccd915.png"},{"id":90837297,"identity":"056f6795-a140-4576-98cf-937f97b88255","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-08 18:06:33","extension":"png","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":329671,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eThe characterizations of structure properties of the prepared samples. (a) TG curves; (b) Raman spectra; (c) XRD patterns and (d) FTIR spectra.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"image3.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7208324/v1/beab86d16d6c3c7d03a3fc99.png"},{"id":90837321,"identity":"f2ea8428-a5a6-4f2b-9ef9-d8b98a1d496a","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-08 18:06:33","extension":"png","order_by":3,"title":"Figure 3","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":830062,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eXPS analysis of the samples. XPS survey spectra (a1-a4), C 1s spectra (b1-b4), O 1s spectra (c1-c4) and Si 2p spectra (d1-d4).\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"image4.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7208324/v1/0d7f21d94f59e63c05c3401c.png"},{"id":90837295,"identity":"83a2da12-82bd-4583-a62b-3a16899c0662","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-08 18:06:33","extension":"png","order_by":4,"title":"Figure 4","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":623994,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eElectrochemical performance of the prepared samples.\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c/strong\u003e(a-c) CV curves of the samples; (d-f) voltage-capacity curves of the samples in different cycle periods; (g) long-cycle performance test of the samples at 0.5 A/g; (h) long-cycle performance test of the samples at 1.0 A/g; (i) rate performance test.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"image5.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7208324/v1/a4c84cd224adad770fa1bdd3.png"},{"id":90838116,"identity":"0965cefe-53ff-4d5c-96b0-1dc092e14679","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-08 18:22:33","extension":"png","order_by":5,"title":"Figure 5","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":390794,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eAnalysis of the electrochemical kinetics.\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c/strong\u003e(a) CV curves of 650-4-glu at different scan rates, (b) the plots of log (current) against log (scan rate) of 650-4-glu; (c) the proportion of capacity-controlled capacity and diffusion-controlled capacity of 650-4-glu electrode at various scan rates; (d) electrochemical impedance spectroscopy of electrode materials after 200 cycles.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"image6.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7208324/v1/dcfd1d4a9f5710458977a221.png"},{"id":90837719,"identity":"9531a18f-5686-43d7-8031-8bcdc51363b2","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-08 18:14:33","extension":"png","order_by":6,"title":"Figure 6","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":286888,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eGITT curves (a); the lg (D\u003csub\u003eLi+\u003c/sub\u003e) value at lithiation process (b) and delithiation process (c).\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"image7.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7208324/v1/6edef665e8fd7eea755824a2.png"},{"id":90837302,"identity":"89ac3a90-8cd2-4669-a06f-0b2fb437d38f","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-08 18:06:33","extension":"png","order_by":7,"title":"Figure 7","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":265501,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e(a1, b1) cross-sectional SEM images of newly fabricated 650-4 and 650-4-glu electrode materials; (a2, b2) cross-sectional SEM images of post-cycled 650-4 and 650-4-glu electrode materials after 1000 cycles at 1.0 A/g.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"image8.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7208324/v1/caf7607cfc43a37e6ab9211f.png"},{"id":107929339,"identity":"90db7ef6-d331-4627-94f1-a178c5362da0","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-27 16:14:55","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":3680012,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7208324/v1/ad37fd7e-3e98-4f21-852c-d430d64f8643.pdf"},{"id":90837721,"identity":"03dc5c22-2d79-481d-bb70-28cce68c5f73","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-08 18:14:35","extension":"docx","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":2624446,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Supportinginformtion.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7208324/v1/4eee65acdbaacac8dac78497.docx"},{"id":90838115,"identity":"b285f51d-78d9-4f39-8b2d-6def97d361af","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-08 18:22:33","extension":"png","order_by":2,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":208881,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eScheme 1. \u003c/strong\u003eA schematic illustration for the preparation of 650-4-glu.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"image1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7208324/v1/73bd932797cc86613669919f.png"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Carbon encapsulation of silicon via lignosulfonate/chitosan electrostatic assembly and glucose-coating for enhanced lithium-ion battery anodes","fulltext":[{"header":"1. Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe requirements for high-performance lithium-ion batteries (LIB) have become increasingly stringent owing to the development of portable electronics and electric vehicles (Lin et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e; Qiao et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR37\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). Existing anode materials, exemplified by graphite, are gradually struggling to meet the concurrent demands of high energy density and high power density (Shi et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR38\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). Silicon (Si), as a highly promising anode material, boasts a theoretical specific capacity as high as 4200 mAh/g (more than ten times that of graphite) and also exhibits a low delithiation potential, which can effectively enhance the output voltage of batteries (Jin et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e). However, significant volume changes (approximately 300%) of Si during charging and discharging processes lead to pulverization of silicon particles, destruction of the electrode structure, and continuous rupture and reconstruction of the solid electrolyte interface (SEI) film, thereby causing rapid degradation of battery capacity and a sharp decline in cycling stability (Zhu et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR52\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo address these issues, nanotechnology has been employed to reduce the particle size of silicon. This strategy not only effectively buffers the pressure caused by volume expansion but also shortens the diffusion distance of lithium ions (Li et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e; Sung et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR40\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). Furthermore, mixing or compositing Si with carbon is regarded as a practical strategy to overcome problems related to the volume change of Si and the low capacity of graphite. The combination of these two materials leverages the high lithiation capacity of Si and the superior mechanical stability and electrical conductivity of carbon, effectively improving the comprehensive properties of Si/C composites (Choi et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e; Dou et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e; Feng et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe design and fabrication of efficient Si\u003cb\u003e/\u003c/b\u003eC anode materials constitute a core focus in contemporary electrochemical research. Crucially, identifying non-toxic, low-cost, and high-quality carbon precursors represents a critical determinant for reducing the cost of Si/C materials (Wu et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR43\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). A variety of Si/C composites have been fabricated using non-biomass-based carbon precursors. For instance, Han et al. (Han et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e) synthesized Si-C/graphene composites through a three-step process: the encapsulation of Si nanoparticles via the self-polymerization of dopamine, the addition of graphene, and carbonization at 800 ℃. Hu et al. (Hu et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e) prepared Si-C materials with a yolk-shell structure by using hydrofluoric acid to etch the SiO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e template, with resorcinol-formaldehyde (RF) resin as the carbon precursor. Although the unique structures endowed these electrode materials with good performance, these methods face challenges of high raw material costs and complex preparation processes. Nanostructured carbon materials, such as graphene and carbon nanotube, dopamine, and RF, are costly carbon precursors, which are unfavorable for the large-scale production of Si/C composites. Meanwhile, the implementation of hazardous operations involving hydrofluoric acid and similar substances presents significant safety challenges, including high toxicity, substantial operational risks, and severe environmental pressures. Consequently, current research in finding low-cost carbon precursors and developing non-toxic and simple fabrication processes necessitates further deepening, aiming to balance electrode performance and industrial production requirements.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRenewable biomass and its derivatives, including lignin in different forms, are extensively employed as green carbon precursors in the synthesis of carbonaceous electrodes for lithium-ion batteries (Huang et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e; Liu et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR29\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e). Lignin, the second most prevalent biomass resource in nature, is a macromolecular polymer featuring high carbon content (40%~60%), a complex three-dimensional network, and an abundance of oxygen-containing functional groups and aromatic structures (Ghimbeu et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e; Peuvot et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR36\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). These characteristics endow the carbonized product of lignin with high mass yield and high mechanical strength. Moreover, structurally diversified lignin-derived carbons, such as porous carbon, spherical carbon, and lamellar carbon, can be synthesized by tuning pore structure via suitable methods. The Si-C materials prepared by carbonizing Si/lignin composites demonstrate multifaceted advantages when applied as anodes in lithium-ion batteries. Mechanistically, the lignin-derived carbon component, which is characterized by high electrical conductivity, ameliorates the intrinsic poor electron transport of silicon and establishes an efficient electron conduction network within the Si-C (Li et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). This synergistic effect significantly enhances the charge-discharge efficiency of the battery. Concurrently, the robust carbon framework mitigates the substantial volume expansion/contraction of silicon during lithiation/delithiation processes, suppressing particle pulverization and agglomeration (Kim et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e; Wang et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR42\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2025\u003c/span\u003e). Consequently, the structural integrity of the composite is preserved, leading to exceptional cycling stability.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLiu et al. (Liu et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR31\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e) first employed cetyltrimethylammonium bromide to endow silicon particles with a positive charge, thereby enabling the efficient immobilization of silicon particles within the composite material via electrostatic interactions with lignin. The initial charge capacity of the carbonized composite was 1016.8 mAh/g at a current density of 0.2 A/g after 100 cycles. Li et al. (Li et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023b\u003c/span\u003e) coated silicon nanoparticles with lignin-based phenolic resin, which formed a protective carbon layer after high-temperature calcination. Compared with pure phenolic resin-coated silicon (Si/C-PR), the lignin-based phenolic resin-coated Si nanoparticles (Si/C-LPR) exhibited significantly improved cycling performance. Si/C-LPR showed an initial specific capacity of 782.5 mAh/g, and the specific capacity remained at 605.4 mAh/g after 100 cycles at a current density of 0.5 A/g. Although notable progress has been made in the construction and application of Si/lignin-based carbon electrode materials, the development of simpler, more efficient, and cost-effective preparation techniques remains imperative. This entails exploring advanced assembly processes for lignin and silicon particles, effective surface modification strategies, and suitable carbonization methods (dos Reis et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e; Huang et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this study, a low-cost, environmentally friendly, and scalable synthesis route was designed (Scheme \u003cspan refid=\"Sch1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e), with lignosulfonate serving as the primary carbon precursor and chitosan and glucose acting as auxiliary carbon sources. By harnessing the electrostatic interaction between lignosulfonate (sulfonate groups with negative charges) and chitosan (protonated amino groups with positive charges), Si nanoparticles were entrapped during the flocculation process of lignin and chitosan. Considering the lignin-Si-chitosan flocs might not fully encapsulate silicon nanoparticles, glucose was supplemented to the freeze-dried flocs by a simple grinding treatment. The characteristics of rich hydroxyl groups and low molecular weight endow carbohydrates such as glucose with high structural plasticity during the carbonization process. Therefore, glucose was considered a suitable supplement to the flocs. The final Si/C electrode materials (the optimized one was denoted as 650-4-glu) were obtained after carbonizing the lignosulfonate-Si-chitosan flocs/glucose mixture at 650 ℃. This binary-carbon structure may improve the mechanical robustness and stability of electrodes by forming more Si-O-C bonds and reducing direct contact between inner silicon and the electrolyte. When 650-4-glu was used as the anode in LIBs, it presented a favorable reversible capacity of 734.3 mAh/g at a high current density of 0.5 A/g after 200 cycles. In this study, the utilization of industrial-grade lignosulfonate highlights a highly potential approach for the high-value application of lignin.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"2. Materials and methods","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec3\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e2.1. Materials\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eLignosulfonate (industrial grade) was obtained from Ingevity Specialty Chemicals (USA). Acetic acid (AR, 99.5%) was purchased from Shanghai Sinopharm Chemical Reagent Co., Ltd (Shanghai, China). Silicon nanoparticles (~\u0026thinsp;50 nm), Chitosan (degree of deacetylation greater than 95%) and glucose (AR) were purchased from Aladdin Biochemical Technology Co., Ltd (Shanghai, China). Carboxymethyl cellulose sodium (CMC) and carbon black (CB) were purchased from Canrd Group (Dongwan, China). All the reagents were directly used without any purification.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec4\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e2.2. Synthesis\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eScheme \u003cspan refid=\"Sch1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e outlines the preparation process of 650-4-glu. The synthesis commenced with dissolving 1.0 g of lignosulfonate in 100 mL of deionized water. Subsequently, 0.4 g of silicon nanoparticles were added into the solution, followed by 30 mins of ultrasonic treatment at room temperature to yield a mixed solution (labeled as solution A). Concurrently, 400 mL of a 1.0 g/L chitosan-acetic acid aqueous solution was prepared (labeled as solution B). The flocculates were then formed by quickly pouring solution B into solution A. After vigorous stirring for 10 mins, the sample was allowed to stand for a period to enable the flocculates to settle. The flocculates were collected by centrifugation, repeatedly washed with water, and freeze-dried. Furthermore, the dried lignin-Si-chitosan composite was mixed and ground with 40 wt.% glucose relevant to the weight of the composite. The mixture of lignosulfonate-Si-chitosan flocculates and glucose was calcined at 650\u0026deg;C for 1.0 h under a nitrogen atmosphere. The carbonized product was washed with dilute hydrochloric acid and water and oven-dried. By increasing the mass of silicon nanoparticles from 0.4 g to 0.8 g, sample 650-8-glu was prepared. Control samples of 650-4 and 650-8 were synthesized by direct carbonization of the freeze-dried lignin-Si-chitosan flocculates without glucose addition.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec5\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e2.3. Characterization\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eMorphological characterization of the samples was performed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM, Regulus 8100, Hitachi, Japan), transmission electron microscopy (TEM, JEM-1400, JEOL, Japan), and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM, JEM-2100, JEOL, Japan), respectively. The pore parameters of the samples were evaluated via N₂ adsorption-desorption measurements using a TriStar II 3Flex adsorption analyzer (Micromeritics, USA). Raman spectra of the samples were recorded on a DXR532 Raman spectrometer (Thermo Fisher, USA) with a 532 nm argon ion laser excitation source. Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR) of the samples were recorded using a VERTEX 80V spectrometer (Bruker, Germany). X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of the samples were obtained on an Ultima IV diffractometer (Rigaku, Japan). Thermogravimetric analysis (TG) of the samples was conducted on a TG209 analyzer (Netzsch, Germany) to determine the content of Si. The chemical states of surface elements (C, O, and Si) were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) using an AXIS UltraDLD spectrometer (Shimadzu, UK).\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec6\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e2.4. Electrochemical measurements\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe as-prepared samples were used as active materials and blended with CMCC (sodium carboxymethylcellulose) and Super P (carbon black) at a mass ratio of 8:1:1. The mixture was then dispersed in diluted water and continuously stirred for 12 hours. The resulting slurry was uniformly spread onto copper foil, followed by preliminary drying under infrared heating. The coated copper foil was then cut into electrode plates and further dried in a vacuum oven for 12 hours.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe assembly of half-cells (CR2032 type) was conducted in an argon-filled glove box. The prepared electrode plates served as working electrodes, while lithium foils were employed as counter electrodes. The electrolyte was a 1 M LiPF\u003csub\u003e6\u003c/sub\u003e solution in a 1:1:1 (v/v) mixture of EMC (ethyl methyl carbonate), EC (ethylene carbonate), and DMC (dimethyl carbonate), containing 10% FEC (fluoroethylene carbonate).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe charge-discharge performance of the assembled half-cells was tested on a LAND CT2001A battery tester. Specifically, the tests were carried out within a voltage range of 0.01\u0026thinsp;~\u0026thinsp;1.5 V (vs. Li\u003csup\u003e+\u003c/sup\u003e/Li) at a constant current density of 0.5 A/g. Cyclic voltammetry experiments were conducted on a CS2350M electrochemical workstation (Corrtest, China) within the same voltage window, with a scan rate of 0.1 mV/s. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) analyses were performed over a frequency range from 0.01 Hz to 100 kHz, using an alternating current perturbation amplitude of 5 mV.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"3. Results and discussion","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec8\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e3.1. Characterization of as-prepared electrode materials\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFig. \u003cspan refid=\"MOESM1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003eS1\u003c/span\u003ea1-a2\u003c/b\u003e show the SEM images of pristine silicon nanoparticles. Numerous silicon nanospheres are aggregated, with diameters ranging from tens to hundreds of nanometers. \u003cb\u003eFig. \u003cspan refid=\"MOESM1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003eS1\u003c/span\u003eb1-b2\u003c/b\u003e depict the SEM images of sample 650-4. The incorporation of lignin and chitosan significantly increases the size of the aggregates, with fewer silicon spheres exhibiting distinct single-particle morphology. This phenomenon may imply that most silicon nanospheres are effectively encapsulated by the carbon layer. In \u003cb\u003eFig. \u003cspan refid=\"MOESM1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003eS1\u003c/span\u003ec1-c2\u003c/b\u003e, corresponding to sample 650-4-glu, the aggregates appear even more uniform and continuous, indicating the confinement of the carbon layer on the silicon particles is further enhanced. This improvement is attributed to the presence of glucose-derived carbon, which fills voids of aggregates observed in 650-4, leading to enhanced encapsulation and improved mechanical integrity. Due to the higher silicon content in samples 650-8 and 650-8-glu, more distinct silicon spheres are observed in the high-magnification SEM images (\u003cb\u003eFig. \u003cspan refid=\"MOESM1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003eS1\u003c/span\u003ed2\u003c/b\u003e and \u003cb\u003ee2\u003c/b\u003e), demonstrating that the increase in silicon content leads to the weakened encapsulation effect.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo characterize the detailed interfacial structure between silicon and carbon, HRTEM images of sample 650-4-glu were taken and presented in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e. The low-magnification image (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003ea) reveals a continuous structure composed of carbon coating and Si nanospheres with minimal exposure of single Si nanoparticle and pure irregular carbonaceous structure, indicating the successful formation of uniform carbon layer on the silicon surface. At higher magnification (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003eb), distinct lattice fringes with an average interplanar spacing of 0.28 nm are observed. According to Bragg's law (Dubach \u0026amp; Guskov, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e), this distance corresponds to the (100) crystal plane of silicon, while the surrounding amorphous regions are identified as carbon matrix.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eElement mappings of sample 650-4-glu (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003ec) were recorded using an energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS) attached to the HRTEM. The images further confirm the silicon-embedded structure. The elemental distributions of carbon and silicon show substantial overlap, with carbon exhibiting a slightly broader spatial coverage. Notably, nitrogen displays a distribution closely aligned with that of carbon in both extent and intensity, while oxygen is primarily associated with silicon. These results collectively verify the effective encapsulation of silicon nanoparticles within carbon matrix, enabled by the synergistic interactions among lignosulfonate, chitosan, and glucose during synthesis.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe porous structure and related parameters of the synthesized samples were investigated via N\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e adsorption-desorption measurements. As shown in \u003cb\u003eFig. S2a\u003c/b\u003e, the isotherm of pure Si exhibits a typical Type II profile, indicating a non-porous nature. In contrast, the isotherms of samples 650-4 and 650-4-glu correspond to Type IV with elongated H4 hysteresis loops in the intermediate relative pressure range, suggesting the presence of both micropores and mesopores, likely narrow slit-shaped mesopores (Deng et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e). The pore size distribution plots were presented in \u003cb\u003eFig. S2b\u003c/b\u003e, the pore size distributions of all samples are relatively concentrated. 650-4 and 650-4-glu possess more micropores and small-mesopores than that of pure Si particles. As summarized in \u003cb\u003eTable \u003cspan refid=\"MOESM1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003eS1\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/b\u003e, the specific surface area (SSA) of silicon particles is 50.5 m\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e/g, while Si-C composites (650-4 and 650-4-glu) show significantly higher SSAs of 207.0 and 233.1 m\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e/g, respectively. Similarly, the total pore volume increases from 0.12 cm\u003csup\u003e3\u003c/sup\u003e/g for pure silicon to 0.32 cm\u003csup\u003e3\u003c/sup\u003e/g for sample 650-4 and 0.28 cm\u003csup\u003e3\u003c/sup\u003e/g for sample 650-4-glu. These increases are attributed to the introduction of porous carbon derived from lignosulfonate and chitosan. Importantly, the SSAs of all the samples remain moderate, which helps minimize the occurrence of interfacial side reactions during charging and discharging cycles (Li et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023a\u003c/span\u003e). Additionally, an appropriate amount of pores is beneficial for the storage and transportation of lithium ions (Li et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024a\u003c/span\u003e). The pore network increases the electrode-electrolyte contact interface, enabling the establishment of interconnected pathways that accelerate lithium ion migration and reduce diffusion resistance (Lian et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFigure\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003ea presents the TG curves of the samples. The silicon contents in samples 650-4, 650-4-glu, 650-8, and 650-8-glu were calculated to be 52.7%, 50.4%, 69.3%, and 62.4%, respectively. Raman spectra were employed to assess the structural disorder and graphitic characteristics of the samples. In Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003eb, the peak at 500 cm\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e corresponds to the first-order Raman scattering of silicon, while the peaks at 280 cm\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e and 950 cm\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e are attributed to the second-order Raman scattering of silicon (Tsybeskov et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR41\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e). Comparative analysis reveals that samples 650-4 and 650-8 (without a secondary glucose-derived carbon coating) exhibit higher-intensity Raman characteristic peaks attributed to silicon. This can be ascribed to the melt-flow behavior of glucose during high-temperature carbonization, which facilitates more effective encapsulation of silicon nanoparticles, thereby attenuating the silicon Raman signals in 650-4-glu and 650-8-glu. Additionally, prominent D (~\u0026thinsp;1350 cm\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e) and G (~\u0026thinsp;1585 cm\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e) bands corresponding to disordered and graphitized carbon structures respectively are observed [30]. The D band is generally associated with impurities, defects, and pores in the carbon matrix, whereas the G band reflects the degree of graphitization. Among the samples, sample 650-8 displays the weakest D and G peak intensities, consistent with its lower carbon content. The I\u003csub\u003eD\u003c/sub\u003e/I\u003csub\u003eG\u003c/sub\u003e ratios for samples 650-4, 650-4-glu, and 650-8-glu are 0.96, 0.94, and 0.91, respectively. All values being less than 1 suggest a higher proportion of graphitic domains in the carbon coatings, which is beneficial for improving electrical conductivity (Ma et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR34\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e; Zhai et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR48\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFigure\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003ec presents the XRD patterns of the samples. All the samples display characteristic diffraction peaks of silicon at 28\u0026deg;, 48\u0026deg;, 57\u0026deg;, 69\u0026deg;, 76\u0026deg;, and 88\u0026deg;, corresponding to the (111), (220), (311), (400), and (422) crystal planes of silicon (Han et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e), respectively. The absence of other impurity peaks indicates that the silicon particles exhibit high purity and suggests that the experimental procedures used in this study did not damage the crystalline structure of the silicon particles. Notably, sample 650-4-glu shows a more distinct weak and broad peak at 2θ\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;26\u0026deg;, corresponding to the (002) crystal plane of amorphous carbon (Sun et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR39\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e), implying that introducing glucose-derived carbon increases the carbon content on the surface of 650-4-glu. This increase in surface carbon content might promote the encapsulation of silicon.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFigure\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003ed depicts the FTIR spectra of the samples. The broad absorption band around 3400 cm\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e primarily corresponds to the stretching vibration peaks of O-H groups (Zhang et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR50\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). The pure silicon sample exhibits the strongest O-H stretching vibration, which can be ascribed to the presence of a surface SiO\u003csub\u003ex\u003c/sub\u003e layer. Additionally, the band at 810 cm\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e represents the symmetric stretching vibration of Si-O-Si, while the broad band ranging from 850 to 1250 cm\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e is attributed to the asymmetric stretching modes of Si-O-Si (Chen et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e; Li et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). The presence of a native oxide layer surrounding silicon nanoparticles is typical and expected. The Si/C samples exhibit signal characteristics distinct from pure silicon in the region of 1100\u0026ndash;1250 cm\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e. A new peak near 1125 cm\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e representing Si-O-C bonds is observed (Li et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). The formation of Si-O-C bonds indicates that silicon nanoparticles and the carbon matrix were bonded via oxygen bridges. Such bonding is beneficial for improving structural stability, enhancing electrical conductivity, suppressing side reactions, and facilitating lithium-ion diffusion.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe chemical states of surface elements of the samples were analyzed based on their XPS spectra. Figure\u0026nbsp;3a1\u003cb\u003e-a4\u003c/b\u003e shows the XPS survey spectra of the samples, which confirms that the primary elements in the Si/C composite samples are C, O, and Si. Among them, sample 650-8 displays the weakest carbon peak intensity, indicating the lowest surface carbon content, which may negatively influence the silicon-carbon coating efficiency. The high-resolution C 1s spectra (\u003cb\u003eFig.\u0026nbsp;3b1-b4\u003c/b\u003e) can be primarily deconvoluted into three peaks at 284.7 eV (asymmetric sp2 carbon), 285.5 eV (symmetric sp3 carbon), and 288.0 eV (C\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;O) (Xue et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR44\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). All samples possess a high concentration of sp2 hybridized carbon atoms. The fitted peaks in O 1s spectra (\u003cb\u003eFig.\u0026nbsp;3c1-c4\u003c/b\u003e), appearing at 530.9, 532.3, and 533.2 eV, are assigned to C\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;O, C-O, and Si-O, respectively (Chen et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). For all samples, O atoms are mainly existed in the form of Si-O bonds. The fitted peaks of Si 2p spectra (\u003cb\u003eFig.\u0026nbsp;3d1-d4\u003c/b\u003e) exhibit two distinct components corresponding to elemental Si and SiOx (Chen et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e; Lee \u0026amp; Park, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). Compared to sample 650-4, the Si\u003csup\u003e0\u003c/sup\u003e signal intensity in 650-4-glu decreases significantly, suggesting that the introduction of glucose-derived carbon improved the encapsulation of silicon nanoparticles and facilitated the conversion of Si\u003csup\u003e0\u003c/sup\u003e to oxidized Si species. Additionally, the comparatively higher proportion of Si\u003csup\u003e4+\u003c/sup\u003e species in samples 650-4 and 650-4-glu compared to 650-8 and 650-8-glu indicates that the relatively abundant carbon precursor in these samples enhanced the oxidation of silicon nanoparticles during carbonization, possibly through the formation of Si-O-C linkages between carbon and silicon. Samples 650-8 and 650-8-glu display stronger overall Si signals, which is consistent with their higher silicon content. The presence of uncoated silicon nanoparticles in these samples should contribute to the enhanced signals.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec9\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e3.2. Electrochemical properties\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eFigure\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003ea-c and \u003cb\u003eFig. S3\u003c/b\u003e present the cyclic voltammetry (CV) curves of the samples recorded at a scanning rate of 0.1 mV/s. The occurrence of the broad peak at 0.88 V in the initial discharge stage can be attributed to electrolyte decomposition and the generation of a solid electrolyte interface (SEI) on the electrode surface (Yao et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR46\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). A pronounced reduction peak near 0.2 V is observed, corresponding to the insertion of lithium ions into silicon particles and the formation of amorphous lithium-silicon compounds (Li\u003csub\u003ex\u003c/sub\u003eSi) through alloying reactions (Huang et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e), which represent the primary lithium storage mechanism of silicon. Two distinct oxidation peaks appear at appropriately 0.36 V and 0.51 V, associated with the dealloying (delithiation) of Li\u003csub\u003ex\u003c/sub\u003eSi (Li et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024b\u003c/span\u003e). Notably, the absolute current values of both the oxidation and reduction peaks increase gradually with the number of scanning cycles, indicating a progressive enhancement in the reaction kinetics of the anode material. This behavior is attributed to the gradual activation of the electrode material, the formation of efficient ion transport pathways, and the increasing participation of internal silicon in the alloying/dealloying reactions. A comparison of the CV curves for samples 650-4 and 650-4-glu reveals that 650-4-glu exhibits more intense redox peaks, suggesting faster electrochemical kinetics. This improvement is likely due to the formation of additional Si-O-C bonds between the silicon particles and carbon matrix after introducing glucose-derived carbon, which promotes lithium ion transport. In the case of 650-8-glu, the great variation in redox peak intensity across cycles implies that a higher silicon content might prolong the activation process.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFigure\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003ed-f and \u003cb\u003eFig. S4\u003c/b\u003e display the charge-discharge capacity-voltage curves of the samples at selected cycles. The first and second cycles of the samples were conducted at a low current density of 0.2 A/g to activate the electrodes, after which the charge-discharge performance was evaluated at 0.5 A/g. The first-cycle discharge specific capacity of sample 650-4 is 1286.3 mAh/g, whereas samples 650-4-glu, 650-8 and 650-8-glu exhibit higher values of 1682.1, 1930.2 and 1,993.9 mAh/g, respectively. A comparison of the charge-discharge voltage profiles at the 20th and 50th cycles reveals that: electrodes 650-4 and 650-4-glu were still in the activation stage within 50 cycles (manifested by the gradual increase in performance with each cycle), whereas the performance of electrodes 650-8 and 650-8-glu started to decay.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFigure\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003eg illustrates the long-term cycling performance of the samples at a current density of 0.5 A/g. To fully activate the lithium storage capacity of the materials, the first two cycles were conducted at a lower current density of 0.2 A/g. For all samples, the specific charge-discharge capacities gradually decrease after the initial activation and then stabilize. This behavior is primarily attributed to irreversible capacity loss caused by the formation of the solid electrolyte interface (SEI) layer and other irreversible alloying reactions during the early cycles (Chae et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e). In the subsequent cycles, the structure and properties of the SEI layer became more stable, and efficient ion transport pathways were gradually established. The pure silicon electrode exhibits a drastic decline in capacity, ultimately dropping to 0 mAh/g after 105 cycles. This dramatic failure results from the severe volume expansion and contraction of silicon during cycling, which leads to structural collapse, detachment from the current collector, and complete loss of electrochemical activity. After 200 cycles, the discharge specific capacities of the samples are as follows: 650-4 (662.7 mAh/g), 650-4-glu (734.3 mAh/g), 650-8 (396.8 mAh/g), and 650-8-glu (728.6 mAh/g). Compared with pure silicon, the silicon nanoparticles coated with lignin-chitosan-derived carbon exhibit significantly improved cycling stability. Furthermore, the introduction of a secondary glucose-derived carbon coating further enhanced the charge-discharge capacity. These results clearly demonstrate that the dual-layer carbon coating strategy is highly effective in improving both the cycling stability and electrochemical performance of silicon-carbon composite materials.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the charge-discharge performance test at a high current density of 1.0 A/g (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003eh), where the first two cycles were conducted at a lower current density of 0.1 A/g, sample 650-4-glu maintains the highest discharge specific capacity (584.1 mAh/g) after 500 cycles, whereas sample 650-8 exhibits the poorest performance. This inferior performance is attributed to the incomplete encapsulation of silicon particles by the carbon layer, resulting in unprotected silicon agglomerating and shrinking during carbonization. These structurally vulnerable silicon particles are more susceptible to damage during repeated charge-discharge cycling, leading to severe capacity degradation. Figure\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003ei presents the rate performance test results at current densities of 0.1 A/g, 0.2 A/g, 0.5 A/g, 1.0 A/g, and back to 0.1 A/g. The corresponding discharge specific capacities of sample 650-4 at each stage are 1486.7 mAh/g, 1341.7 mAh/g, 1063.5 mAh/g, 835.1 mAh/g, and 1298 mAh/g, respectively. For sample 650-4-glu, the values are 1554.6 mAh/g, 1394 mAh/g, 1217.2 mAh/g, 1096.7 mAh/g, and 1542.5 mAh/g. Sample 650-8-glu shows capacities of 1879.8 mAh/g, 1657.2 mAh/g, 1354.2 mAh/g, 970.3 mAh/g, and 1567.5 mAh/g across different current density stages, which are also higher than those of 650-8. Overall, sample 650-4-glu exhibits the most outstanding rate performance, characterized by minimal differences in specific capacity across different current densities and minimal fluctuations in specific capacity across different cycles at the same current density. Notably, when the current density returns to 0.1 A/g, its specific capacity remains as high as 1542.5 mAh/g. It is worth mentioning that the SEI film tends to deteriorate under varying current densities, leading to irreversible capacity loss (Yi et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR47\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e). These results demonstrate that sample 650-4-glu possesses a stable and robust carbon coating structure, which significantly mitigates the volume expansion of silicon and enhances the cycling stability of the electrode material.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs summarized in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e, the 650-4-glu electrode exhibits comparable cyclic performance to recently reported Si/C composite electrodes. Additionally, the preparation method of 650-4-glu electrode is novel and straightforward, featuring a relatively low calcination temperature. Overall, industrial lignosulfonate can be utilized to construct a carbon matrix that encapsulates silicon particles, effectively buffering volume changes of silicon particles and enabling the electrode to achieve excellent lithium storage performance and cycling stability.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo investigate the electrochemical kinetics of the fabricated electrode materials, a series of CV measurements were conducted at varying scan rates of 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5 mV/s. As shown in \u003cb\u003eFig. S5\u003c/b\u003e, the CV curves of the corresponding samples at different scan rates reveal that the redox peak intensities increase progressively with increasing scan rate. Compared with samples 650-4 and 650-8, samples 650-4-glu and 650-8-glu exhibit larger peak currents (in absolute values), indicating that the introduction of glucose-derived carbon enhances the electrochemical activity of the electrode materials. The relationship between the peak current i (mA) and the scan rate (mV/s) follows Eq.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Equ1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e (Zhang et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR49\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e).\u003cdiv id=\"Equ1\" class=\"Equation\"\u003e\u003cdiv format=\"TEX\" class=\"mathdisplay\" id=\"FileID_Equ1\" name=\"EquationSource\"\u003e\n$$\\:i=\\text{a}{}^{b}$$\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"EquationNumber\"\u003e1\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ewhere, a and b represent fitting parameters.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe b-value is derived through curve fitting to characterize the electrochemical kinetics of lithium ion storage. The fitting results were displayed in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig5\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003eb. The b-values are close to 1, indicating that the electrochemical behavior of 650-4-glu is predominantly governed by capacitive-controlled processes (Lu et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR33\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e), and the b-values can is relevant to its distinct physical microstructures and surface chemical moieties (Li et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023a\u003c/span\u003e). The lithium storage capacity of 650-4-glu mainly originates from the alloying reactions between silicon and lithium. Due to the nanoscale size of the silicon particles, the lithium-ion diffusion path is significantly shortened, thereby increasing the contribution from surface reactions. Additionally, the carbon matrix with moderate surface area provides active sites for ion adsorption on the surface, further enhancing the proportion of capacitively controlled lithium storage behavior.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAdditionally, the contributions of capacitance-controlled and diffusion-controlled storage were calculated according to Eq.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Equ2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e (Yang \u0026amp; Rogach, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR45\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e).\u003cdiv id=\"Equ2\" class=\"Equation\"\u003e\u003cdiv format=\"TEX\" class=\"mathdisplay\" id=\"FileID_Equ2\" name=\"EquationSource\"\u003e\n$$\\:i={k}_{1}+{k}_{2}{v}^{1/2}$$\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"EquationNumber\"\u003e2\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ewhere \u003cem\u003eI\u003c/em\u003e (mA) represents the peak current, \u003cem\u003ev\u003c/em\u003e (mV/s) denotes the scan rate, \u003cem\u003ek₁\u003c/em\u003e signifies the capacitive contribution, and k₂ corresponds to the diffusion-controlled contribution.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs the scan rate increases from 0.1 mV/s to 0.5 mV/s, the proportion of capacitive-controlled capacity for sample 650-4 rises from 65.4\u0026ndash;80.8% (\u003cb\u003eFig. S6a\u003c/b\u003e), while that of 650-4-glu increases from 51.3\u0026ndash;70.2% (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig5\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003ec). For sample 650-8, the contribution increases from 65.6\u0026ndash;81.0% (\u003cb\u003eFig. S6b\u003c/b\u003e), and for 650-8-glu, it rises from 86.9\u0026ndash;93.7% (\u003cb\u003eFig. S6c\u003c/b\u003e). These results suggest that a higher silicon nanoparticles content is correlated with a greater contribution of capacitive-controlled lithium storage. For sample 650-4-glu, the incorporation of glucose-derived carbon leads to a densification of the carbon framework and a reduction in specific surface area, thereby significantly increasing the diffusion-controlled contribution compared to 650-4. In contrast, for sample 650-8-glu, the glucose-derived carbon improves its encapsulation of silicon and provides more interfacial reaction sites, resulting in a greater capacitive-controlled contribution relative to 650-8. Mechanistically, the contrasting degrees of carbon coating in 650-4-glu and 650-8-glu are responsible for their distinct electrochemical behaviors. The high capacitive-dominated lithium storage performance of all samples can be attributed to their well-engineered silicon-carbon core-shell structure and the formation of a conductive carbon network, which together facilitate efficient charge transport and mitigate volume expansion. As a result, 650-4-glu achieves an optimal balance between electrochemical kinetics and structural stability, contributing to its superior lithium storage performance.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eComparison of cycling performance with other Si/C composites in the previous studies.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"8\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c8\" colnum=\"8\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMaterials\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSi content\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(%)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCarbonization\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eprocedure\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSpecific capacity\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(mAh/g)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCurrent density\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(mAh/g)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCycles\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eRef.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSi-CNT@PC\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003epitch\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e85\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e900 ℃ for 3 h\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e715\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.0\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e400\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e(Park et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR35\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSi@C\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eaniline\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e55\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e750 ℃ for 2 h\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e990\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.2\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e100\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e(Li et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003ePANI-Si@CNTs\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003ecarbon nanotubes\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e63\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e900 ℃ for 2 h\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e727\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.1\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e100\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e(Zhou et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR51\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCNFs/Si@C\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003epolyacrylonitrile\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e/\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e800 ℃ for 1 h\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e754\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.1\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e100\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e(Liu et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR30\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSi-LAC20\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003ealkali lignin\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e33\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e800 ℃ for 1 h\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e574\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.1\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e200\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e(Liu et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR32\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSi/C\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003epolyacrylonitrile\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e/\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e800 ℃ for 5 h\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e640\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.5\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e100\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e(Chen et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e650-4-glu\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003elignosulfonate\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e50\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e650 ℃ for 1 h\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e734\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.5\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e200\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis work\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo further investigate the kinetics of the Si/C composite electrodes, the charge transfer resistance (R\u003csub\u003ect\u003c/sub\u003e) of different electrode samples (freshly prepared and post cycled) was measured using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). \u003cb\u003eFig. S7\u003c/b\u003e shows the EIS spectra of the freshly prepared electrodes, while Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig5\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003ed displays the EIS spectra of the same electrodes after 200 cycles at a current density of 0.5 A/g. The EIS spectra typically feature two semicircles in the high-frequency and medium-frequency regions and a straight line in the low-frequency region. The semicircle in the high-frequency region is associated with the impedance of lithium ions entering the SEI film (R\u003csub\u003es\u003c/sub\u003e), the semicircle in the medium-frequency region corresponds to the charge transfer resistance (R\u003csub\u003ect\u003c/sub\u003e), and the straight line in the low-frequency region is related to the diffusion process of lithium ions within the solid phase (Warburg impedance, Z\u003csub\u003ew\u003c/sub\u003e) (Bi et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e). The R\u003csub\u003ect\u003c/sub\u003e values of all electrodes before and after cycling were fitted using an equivalent circuit (\u003cb\u003eFig. S8\u003c/b\u003e), and the results were summarized in \u003cb\u003eTable S2\u003c/b\u003e. It is found that the R\u003csub\u003ect\u003c/sub\u003e values of all electrodes decreases significantly after 200 cycles. Among them, sample 650-4-glu exhibits the lowest R\u003csub\u003ect\u003c/sub\u003e value of 72.45 Ω, indicating improved charge transfer kinetics. However, with increasing of silicon content, the R\u003csub\u003ect\u003c/sub\u003e value tend to increase. This can be attributed to the incomplete carbon coating, which results in reduced electrical conductivity and consequently higher charge transfer resistance.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo further investigate the lithium-ion transport behavior in the prepared electrodes, galvanostatic intermittent titration technique (GITT) measurements were conducted. The testing protocol involved charging and discharging at a current density of 0.1 A/g for 30 minutes, with a 120-minute rest interval after each operation. The lithium-ion diffusion coefficient of the electrodes was calculated using the following equation (Wu et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR43\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e):\u003cdiv id=\"Equ3\" class=\"Equation\"\u003e\u003cdiv format=\"TEX\" class=\"mathdisplay\" id=\"FileID_Equ3\" name=\"EquationSource\"\u003e\n$$\\:{D}_{{Li}^{+}}=\\frac{4}{\\pi\\:\\tau\\:}\\:{\\left(\\frac{{m}_{B\\:}{V}_{M}}{{M}_{B}S}\\right)}^{2}{\\left(\\frac{{\\varDelta\\:E}_{s}}{{\\varDelta\\:E}_{\\tau\\:}}\\right)}^{2}$$\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"EquationNumber\"\u003e3\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ewhere τ (s) denotes the relaxation time, m\u003csub\u003eB\u003c/sub\u003e (g) represents the mass of the active material, V\u003csub\u003eM\u003c/sub\u003e (cm\u003csup\u003e3\u003c/sup\u003e/mol) and M\u003csub\u003eB\u003c/sub\u003e (g/mol) signify the molar volume and molar mass of the active material, respectively, S (cm\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e) indicates the contact area between the prepared materials and the electrolyte, and ∆E\u003csub\u003es\u003c/sub\u003e (V) and ∆E\u003csub\u003eτ\u003c/sub\u003e (V) represent the voltage differences.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFigure\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig6\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003ea displays the GITT curves of each electrode material, from which the lg(D\u003csub\u003eLi+\u003c/sub\u003e) values during the lithium insertion and extraction processes were analyzed and calculated. Figure\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig6\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003eb presents the corresponding lg(D\u003csub\u003eLi+\u003c/sub\u003e) values at different voltages during lithium storage. The lg(D\u003csub\u003eLi+\u003c/sub\u003e) values sharply decreases to the minimum near 0.1 V, and this trough region is associated with the alloying reaction between lithium ions and silicon. Similarly, Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig6\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003ec shows the lg(D\u003csub\u003eLi+\u003c/sub\u003e) values corresponding to different voltages during lithium extraction, where the lg(D\u003csub\u003eLi+\u003c/sub\u003e) values sharply decrease to the minimum near 0.5 V, and this trough region is related to the dealloying reaction of Li\u003csub\u003ex\u003c/sub\u003eSi species. These observations are consistent with the results obtained from CV analysis. During lithium insertion, the average lg(D\u003csub\u003eLi+\u003c/sub\u003e) values for sample 650-4, 650-4-glu, 650-8, 650-8-glu are \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;10.67, -10.51, -10.60, and \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;10.61, respectively, indicating minimal variation in lithium-ion diffusion coefficients across the samples. These values reflect the combined influence of particle size, reaction kinetics, and lithium-ion transport pathways within the electrode materials.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo evaluate the effect of glucose-derived carbon on the electrode structure, cross-sectional SEM images were captured for both fresh and post-cycled 650-4 and 650-4-glu. Figure\u0026nbsp;7a1 and \u003cb\u003eb1\u003c/b\u003e show the cross-sections of freshly prepared 650-4 and 650-4-glu electrode sheets, while \u003cb\u003eFig.\u0026nbsp;7a2\u003c/b\u003e and \u003cb\u003eb2\u003c/b\u003e depict their counterparts after 1000 cycles at 1.0 A/g. After 1000 cycles, the thickness of the 650-4 electrode changes from 14.92 \u0026micro;m to 108.04 \u0026micro;m, while the thickness of 650-4-glu electrode changes from 30.17 \u0026micro;m to 86.51 \u0026micro;m. As a result, 650-4 electrode exhibits a larger volume expansion ratio. \u003cb\u003eFig. S9\u003c/b\u003e presents the top-view SEM images of fresh and post-cycled (1000 cycles at 1.0 A/g) 650-4 and 650-4-glu. The surface of cycled 650-4 (\u003cb\u003eFig. S9 a2\u003c/b\u003e) displays distinct cracks, whereas that of the cycled 650-4-glu ((\u003cb\u003eFig. S9 b2\u003c/b\u003e) remains relatively smooth, featuring only negligible pores. Based on the above analysis, the incorporation of glucose-derived carbon significantly enhances the structural integrity of 650-4-glu. This improvement is likely due to the abundant hydroxyl groups of glucose and its high structure plasticity during carbonization, which facilitate the formation of Si-O-C bonds with silicon, leading to a robust silicon-carbon coating structure. In summary, the introduced glucose-derived carbon likely serves as a binding agent between silicon particles and lignosulfonate-chitosan-derived carbon, thereby enhancing the structural stability of silicon-carbon electrodes and improving their cycling stability.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"4. Conclusions","content":"\u003cp\u003eIn summary, novel silicon/carbon composites were fabricated by carbonizing lignin-Si-chitosan flocs/glucose mixture. The binary carbon matrix, derived from lignosulfonate-chitosan flocs and glucose, synergistically encapsulated silicon nanoparticles. The lignosulfonate-chitosan-based carbon served as the primary coating matrix, while the glucose-derived carbon played a supplementary role. The formation of Si-O-C bonds enhanced interfacial cohesion between silicon and carbon, thereby improving the structural integrity of the composite. Furthermore, the unique coating approach, which leveraged electrostatic interactions between chitosan and lignin, contributed to a moderate surface area that benefited Li\u003csup\u003e+\u003c/sup\u003e diffusion. Among the prepared samples, 650-4-glu, featuring a relatively higher carbon content, exhibited superior encapsulation of silicon and enhanced interfacial bonding. This structural optimization contributed to excellent lithium storage capacity, cycling stability, and rate performance, delivering a reversible capacity of 734.3 mAh/g after 200 cycles at a current density of 0.5 A/g. This work offers a creative insight for developing high-performance, biomass-derived Si-C composite electrodes for lithium-ion storage. Future work may focus on further tuning the carbon structure and composition to optimize electrochemical performance for practical lithium-ion battery applications.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAcknowledgements\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52106250, 32271811), and the National Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20220431).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthor contributions\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLing Wu: Writing-review \u0026amp; editing, Writing-original draft, Software, Methodology, Investigation, Formal analysis, Data curation, Conceptualization.\u0026nbsp;Yang Liu: Validation, Supervision. Tingwei Zhang:\u0026nbsp;Supervision, Methodology, Conceptualization. Yongcan Jin: Writing\u0026ndash;review \u0026amp; editing, Supervision, Funding acquisition, Conceptualization.\u0026nbsp;Huining Xiao:\u0026nbsp;Validation, Supervision. All authors reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eData availability\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNo datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConflict of interest\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBi H, Liu Z, Xu F, Tang Y, Lin T, Huang F (2016) Three-dimensional porous graphene-like carbon cloth from cotton as a free-standing lithium-ion battery anode. 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ACS Nano 15(10):15567\u0026ndash;15593. \u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003ehttps://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.1c05898\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan address=\"10.1021/acsnano.1c05898\" targettype=\"DOI\" class=\"RefTarget\"\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ol\u003e"},{"header":"Schemes","content":"\u003cp\u003eScheme 1 is available in the Supplementary Files section\u003c/p\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"wood-science-and-technology","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"wsat","sideBox":"Learn more about [Wood Science and Technology](http://link.springer.com/journal/226)","snPcode":"226","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/226/3","title":"Wood Science and Technology","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Self-assembly of lignosulfonate and chitosan, glucose coating, silicon/carbon anode, lithium-ion batteries","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7208324/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7208324/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eSilicon (Si) is regarded as one of the most prospective lithium-storage materials owing to its large theoretical specific capacity (4200 mAh/g) and low operating potential. However, during lithiation/delithiation processes, the tremendous volume change (~\u0026thinsp;300%) and poor conductivity of Si materials restrict their large-scale application in the field of electrodes. Herein, a novel encapsulating strategy was proposed to prepare silicon/carbon composites (650-4-glu). The self-assembly process, driven by electrostatic interaction between lignosulfonate and chitosan, initially enwrapped silicon nanoparticles. Furthermore, glucose was introduced through simple grinding with the lignin-Si-chitosan assembly. After carbonization, physicochemical characterization revealed that the carbon framework derived from lignin-chitosan largely coated silicon and glucose-derived carbon served as a supplementary phase to enhance the encapsulation effect. The formation of Si-O-C linkages between carbon and silicon tightly bound the silicon particles, which was crucial for improving cycling stability and rate performance. Sample 650-4-glu exhibited an excellent specific capacity, retaining 734.3 mAh/g after 200 cycles at 0.5 A/g and 584.1 mAh/g after 500 cycles at 1.0 A/g. This work demonstrated a sustainable and effective approach for utilizing lignosulfonate, a byproduct in the papermaking industry, in high-performance lithium-ion battery electrodes.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Carbon encapsulation of silicon via lignosulfonate/chitosan electrostatic assembly and glucose-coating for enhanced lithium-ion battery anodes","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-09-08 18:06:28","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7208324/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2026-02-17T12:50:42+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-02-04T05:57:15+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-01-28T12:38:24+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"264902726735550278643906633241131774282","date":"2026-01-15T23:05:26+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"164237594071439119432576053518173208230","date":"2026-01-13T23:53:49+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"334009781402511184500531379105897661013","date":"2025-11-05T12:52:26+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-10-11T12:49:25+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"330690330103142513080930780462789236386","date":"2025-09-15T12:13:57+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-08-29T10:39:23+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-07-28T15:23:15+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-07-25T11:52:16+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Wood Science and Technology","date":"2025-07-24T19:11:52+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"wood-science-and-technology","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"wsat","sideBox":"Learn more about [Wood Science and Technology](http://link.springer.com/journal/226)","snPcode":"226","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/226/3","title":"Wood Science and Technology","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"0a55fb15-79b0-4c4a-996d-5ba54b401c2a","owner":[],"postedDate":"September 8th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-27T16:13:31+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-7208324","link":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00226-026-01775-6","journal":{"identity":"wood-science-and-technology","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Wood Science and Technology"},"publishedOn":"2026-04-21 15:58:24","publishedOnDateReadable":"April 21st, 2026"},"versionCreatedAt":"2025-09-08 18:06:28","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1007/s00226-026-01775-6","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00226-026-01775-6","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7208324","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7208324","identity":"rs-7208324","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}